Little Wonders
by MKAmericanhero
Summary: Sequel to The Easy Silence That You Make For Me. The story about Callie's new career, how the family has grown up and a new look at the girl that the world forgot. She's grown up and ready to take on the world, but she'll always need her family.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone. So I decided to start the sequel to The Easy Silence That You Make For Me on a separate thread so people can read it even if they don't want to read the whole first story beforehand. I'll try to write this so it makes sense with or without the first story, but it will for sure help you to have read the other story.**

Lena wasn't sure where the last few years had gone, but she knew that her family had seen some pretty profound changes in that time. Callie had been a her aviation swimming training for two years and would be finishing and hopefully graduating in the next 6 months. Brandon and Luca were both half way into their Junior years at their respective colleges. Jude was starting his junior year at Anchor Beach and the twins had both graduated from the school not long ago. Mariana had decided on Cal Poly for school, something that both shocked and surprised her family, but they were happy for her decision all the same. Jesus on the other hand had opted for a few years in community college to help raise his GPA before going into a four-year school. All that to say, their lives had been the standard level of crazy excitement that was always present in their house and they were coming up on the time when Callie would be finishing training and hopefully be getting her posting (Lena and Stef both prayed for a spot in California).

For her part, Callie was enjoying her training since it was what she wanted to do and she was good at it, but holy hell if they didn't put their recruits through hell. Callie would explain the training exercises to her family over the phone and Stef and Lena always looked a bit pale after they hung up. They couldn't imagine anyone doing those things, let alone their baby girl. That baby girl however, had kept her position as top of the class and was on the top of every list they had at the training camp. As it turned out, Callie's lifetime of saving Jude, made her oddly qualified to save just about everyone else from any given circumstance.

If her training was finished when they projected it would be, then that coming Christmas would mean another trip to Florida to watch one more military graduation. Stef and Lena were both oddly terrified because that meant Callie would soon be working in a full capacity in the Navy, but also made them very proud that she would be doing what she had been trained to do.

Both women wondered, when, in the midst of all these new and exciting changes would they get a phone call from Luca requesting a private meeting with just the two of them. They didn't have to wonder for long. About 4 month before Callie's training would be over, Luca called Stef and asked if there was a night he could come over and speak with them alone. Stef knew what was coming, hell, so did Lena, and they agreed that they would meet Luca the follow week, during a time they knew the house would be empty. That night, after the plans had been made with Luca, Stef locked up downstairs and quickly climbed into bed with Lena.

"You know what he's gonna ask us." Lena stated plainly.

"I do. You ready to hear the words come out of his mouth?"

"She's our baby Stef. I don't think I'll ever be really ready to hear those words, but coming from him…yeah, I'm ready for that."

"You think he'll do it in Florida?"

"No. I think he'll wait until Callie is back here and he is closer to finishing school. Then I think he'll do it here. Knowing how well he knows Callie, somewhere at the beach." Stef had to admit: if there was one place Luca was sure to get a yes from Callie it was at the waterfront where most of her happy memories from childhood had taken place.

"Care to make it a bit more interesting?"

"Stef, we are not betting on Callie getting engaged."

"Come on babe, this is big news. Just a little bet." Stef pleaded in a way that Lena couldn't say no to.

"Fine. I say he'll ask for our permission this week and then he'll spend the next four months planning everything down to the last detail. Then I think once she is stationed back here in California, which I hope is what happens, and then I think he'll propose. He wants to wait for her to come home Stef, I guarantee it."

"I think he's going to try and contain himself until then, but then I think he's going to bring the ring with him and they'll be engaged by the time we leave Florida."

"Now that bet I will take. Loser does the dishes unassisted for two months."

"Ouch, high stakes, but I accept."

 **Okay okay, so this first chapter is a bit awful, but I needed to start it somewhere and then move forward from there. For those people who have read the other story or who just want to weigh in, what would you rather see: Florida proposal after graduation or CA proposal after Callie gets her orders? Up to you, I'll write either. Let me know and thanks for following this story over here for the new installment.**


	2. Just A Common Man

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed and weighed in on what you wanted to see. I'm currently working out the story timeline in my head so I can at least make the other kid's graduations make sense. Other than that, just enjoy.**

A week later, Stef was in the garden, trying to keep herself busy while Lena tried to do the same thing inside. They had managed to convince Jude to go hang out with friends for the day, Mariana lived on campus and while Jesus still lived at home while he attended school, he had made himself scarce when his mother's requested an empty house for the evening.

Stef heard the doorbell ring from outside and she was grateful for the reason to go inside, if for no other reason than she had been digging the same hole for ten minutes and nothing was really getting done. When she got inside to wash up, Luca and Lena were already in the kitchen, making small talk.

"Hey sweets, how have you been? School still going ok?" Stef hugged the boy…who was not a boy anymore and he had a beard to prove it. She sat down next to Lena with Luca opposite from them.

"School is good. Struggling with a class right now, but my professor is helping me through it so I'll get there. And if I do well this semester then the Spring semester should be very light since most of my coursework would be done."

"So you'll graduate on time then?"

"Yes ma'am, that's the idea."

"Good for you. I know we've said it before, but we really are proud of you and what you've done at school. It seems to make you happy too, which will make it so much more enjoyable when you really start working in the field." Stef smiled and sighed, "but, you didn't come over here to tell us about school."

Luca smiled and shook his head. " No, that isn't why I came over here. Listen, I know you guys know why I'm here, but let me say all this stuff I've been practicing for the last three months because if I don't say it all I might explode." Stef nodded and took a deep breath.

"Well, it sounds like I am going to need a beer to make it through this…can I offer you one?" Luca nodded and Stef returned from the fridge with two bottles, placing one of them in front of Luca.

"Alright, let's hear it."

Luca took a deep breath and a healthy swig of the beer in front of him before he looked both women square in the eye.

"Callie always says that she didn't know that people like you existed. She never thought the world could have two amazing people who are as wonderful as you both are want to be her mothers. I think she'll always been in awe of that fact. I have to say though, that I didn't think people like you existed. You love each other, love your kids, love your careers. Everything about your lives is centered on love and a lot of it."

Luca shifted in his seat and continued. "You didn't have to make room for me in your family…but you did and I'll thank God for the rest of my life that you did. You made room for me and made me feel loved in a family that was not my own. You trusted me with your daughter's heart…a heart that has been broken by so many people that it's a miracle it beats as strong as it does. I knew a little bit about Callie before I met her that day at the pool. I knew people had hurt her and I knew she had protected her brother. That was all I knew and it was all I needed to know. She had this amazing smile and I wanted to get to know her better and knowing even part of her past told me what caliber of a girl she was and what kind of women she would grow up to be. I just hoped she would give me a chance and that one date…that one chance was all it took. I knew I loved her and I hoped that I could prove myself to be a good boyfriend and a good man that she would want to have in her life. Even to this day I hope I can be that kind of man for her and it scares me to death to think of failing in that endeavor."

"All of that to say. Callie was brave enough to open up her heart to me and what I saw, what I felt for her was dazzling and it still takes my breath away sometimes. She still believes in love, I think in large part because you two saved her before the world broke her spirit totally. You gave her permission to open her heart to people, let them in and let them love her…and she let me into her heart. She let me love her and everyday since that first day at the pool, I think I've fallen more and more in love with her. Having her away at training has been hell, but she is so happy with what she is doing and I am so proud of her its unreal."

Luca paused and reached into his thsirt and pulled out his necklace, which still held Callie's class ring at the end of it. He undid the clasp and held the ring out to both women and continued.

"At the airport, all those years ago, she gave me her ring to keep safe and she said to be at peace because she always returns for what is her's. I know she will come back for this ring, but…with your permission, I would like to offer her a very different ring." Luca reached into his pocket and pulled out a black box and set it in front of Lena. Lena looked at the box, at Stef and then at Luca.

Luca nodded his head, with tears rolling down his face. "Go ahead." Lena reached over and took the box and as she opened it, she held it so that Stef could see what was inside of it as well. They were met with a beautiful engagement ring. It was simple in design, but there was no mistaking that the diamond was real. Both mothers were in tears and couldn't say anything just yet, which was just as well because Luca wasn't done.

"My father spent one whole paycheck on that ring. Told me that my mother deserved the best. She was so mad at him for spending that much, but she wore that ring with pride every single day they were married. She didn't take it off until about 6 months after dad died and when she did, she took me with her to the bank and showed me what she was doing. 'One day, when you grow up and love someone the way your father loved me, you come back here, get this ring and give it to her. But only if you know she's the one who has your heart'. That's what she told me when I was a kid and that rang in my ears this morning when I picked up that ring."

"Callie has my whole heart and she will always have it and for as long as she'll put up with me…I would like very much to see that ring on her finger. I love your daughter. I love her in the same way my father loved my mother and the same way I imagine the two of you love each other."

"I am nothing special; just a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But in one respect I have succeeded as gloriously as anyone who's ever lived: I've loved another with all my heart and soul; and to me, this has always been enough."

Luca took the box from Lena's hands and with a trembling voice said, "I cannot imagine a day in this life without her by my side. So, when the time is right, with your permission, I would like to ask Callie to marry me."

Lena seemed stunned silent, which surprised her. They knew this was coming and yet, as she looked at the ring that would no doubt grace her daughter's finger, she was overcome with the fact that there was a man, sitting in her house, wanting to marry her baby. Stef was left to be the voice since she seemed to be the only one who could talk.

"You stole some of that speech from The Notebook." Luca laughed and took another swig of beer. "I sure did. Question is: did it work?" Stef stood up and Luca followed suit and when Stef was standing right in front of him, she reached over and gently touched his shoulder.

"You may have to wait till Lena can form words, but I think I can speak for both of us by saying that you most definitely have our permission to ask Callie to marry you." Luca looked at Lena with a pleading look on his face and Lena finally managed to nod her head and mutter, 'of course'. Simple words, but they caused Luca to pick Stef off the ground in a hug before quickly going and doing the same to Lena.

"I know you guys always said, you'd say yes, but you have no idea how nervous I've been."

"Luca, we love you and we love Callie and more importantly, we know how much Callie loves you. As far as we are concerned, we are very lucky to get the chance to welcome you into our family. Strange though it may be." Lena smiled and Stef laughed, but Luca just beamed like a kid on Christmas.

"She's gotta say yes first ladies." Stef looked at the ring one more time before patting Luca on the back and toasting with the beers they had.

"She'll say yes. Just remember what I said."

Luca nodded and put the ring box back in his pocket, "yes ma'am, no big public displays. Make it about her, about us."

"Look at that Lena, someone in this family that listens to my advice." Lena rolled her eyes before hugging Luca.

"The real question is, when is your dinner plans with her baby brother?"

"He and I are going to grab burgers tomorrow night. Same place my step-dad took me when he asked to marry my mom. Figured it might bring me luck…make it more likely for him to agree." Lena smiled, but nodded her understanding.

"Oh honey. They had no one but each other for so many years that they would walk through fire for one another. But he trusts you and loves you like you are already family. You are the only man in his life that has proved he is worthy of his sister. He'll give you his permission, just be ready for some tears because it is going to be hard for him to let another man love her as much as he does. Even a man he loves as much as you." Lena had a point and Luca knew she was right. Jude would say yes, but it would be a bittersweet moment for the boy who never thought he'd ever meet a man worthy of calling Callie his wife.

 **The conversation with Jude will have a different feel to it and may take some time for me to write. School is starting again soon, but I'm working on it so just hang tight. If you have ideas on what you'd like to see with Jude and Luca's conversation, let me know and I will see what I can do.**


	3. Let Her Dream

Two weeks after getting Stef and Lena's blessing, Luca was preparing for his last and perhaps most important meeting. He had arranged to take Jude to dinner that night, just the two of them. He had pitched it to the young teenager that he wanted to discuss a gift for Callie's graduation and maybe Jude saw past the lie, but either way he had agreed. So that Friday night, Luca arrived at the Foster house and Jude was already waiting out front and quickly got in the car.

"Hey buddy, you hungry?"

"Starving, that growth spurt just seems to make me hungry all the time."

"Same thing happened to me at your age. I think I ate my mom out of house and home. But no worries, this place has great food." The two boys made small talk as they drove to the restaurant and once they got there they placed their orders and waited patiently for their food. Luca let Jude talk about how school was going and how he planned to be part of the senior showcase next year, just like Callie and Brandon had done. Luca was glad to let the boy talk, mostly because he was scared senseless that for some reason Jude would refuse to give his blessing on his sister's marriage.

"Earth to Luca." Luca snapped out of his own thoughts and looked at Jude who had clearly finished talking some time ago.

"Sorry buddy, just got caught up in my own thoughts."

"About Callie's graduation gift?"

"Sort of. Listen Jude, I actually want to give Callie a special gift when she finishes her training, but I want to wait until she comes back to California to give it to her, but I figured you would have some thoughts on it." Jude sipped his soda and shrugged his shoulders, "sure, whatever you need help with. What were you thinking of giving her?"

Luca reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the small black box and placed it in the palm of Jude's hand before the boy knew what was going on.

"I was thinking of giving her this, that is if she agrees to the terms and conditions that come with it." Jude, like his mothers, was stunned and shocked and for a moment could not process words. When he could finally think again, he carefully opened the box and looked at the ring that Luca wanted to give his sister. His sister. In that moment, Jude became fiercely possessive over Callie. She was no longer Mariana, Jesus and Brandon's sister…only his sister. It had been years since Jude had felt that need to claim his sister, but in this moment it was because another man was asking for his permission to marry HIS sister. The words were on the tip of Jude's tongue. The words to tell Luca of course he could give Callie the ring and ask her to marry him. And yet the words refused to come out of his mouth and he just looked at the ring with tears in his eyes. Luca took the moment of silence to jump in and try and put Jude's mind at ease.

"Jude, listen to me for just a minute ok. I can't begin to imagine what it feels like to have me ask this of you, but I promise you, I am not trying to take Callie from anyone, least of all you. You are my family too buddy, but I know what you and Callie went through and I knew that if anyone deserved to be in on this proposal it was you and your folks."

"Have they already said yes?"

"Yeah buddy, they said yes." Jude nodded and closed the ring box, but held it in his hand as he shut his eyes for a minute.

"Did you ask me second because you were afraid I would say no?"

"No Jude. I asked you second because this conversation was going to be different than the one with your moms. They love Callie like they have known her all her life, but you…you have actually known her all your life. She raised you for a while and the bond you two have is something I would never try and tamper with, so I wanted a separate moment with you because after everything you two lived through, you deserved your moment in the sun. She spent a long time protecting you from people and I wanted to give you one more chance to be her protector, even if its me you want to protect her from."

"She doesn't need to be protected from you." Luca smiled.

"I know that buddy, but you know what I meant. It's just like I told your mom, you loved her first and that bond, that relationship is the most awe inspiring thing I've ever seen. You may be her little brother, but for a long time, you were the only thing she had in this world to love and that means that no matter what, you will have a place in her heart that even I could never fill. I saw that flash in your eyes when you saw the ring: that instinct to protect her. You come by it honestly and that's why I wanted this moment with you." Luca rubbed his hand together and sipped his water, nervous as all hell.

"Jude, I love your sister so much that sometimes I don't know what I'm doing with myself. This feels like a movie because only people this in love are real in movies. But this is real life, it's my life and I want more than anything to make your sister a permanent part of my life, but only if you are ok with sharing her with me. I know she is her own person who can tell me yes or no, but for this moment just forget that. The time for asking her a question will come later, but right now is my time with you."

"I love her so much Jude. I finally get what my father felt that day when he met my mother. Instantly falling for a girl WAY out of your league, but doing all he could to keep her in his life. I'm still shocked she agreed to that first date and to all the ones after that. She has been there when I have missed my dad. We've cried at our respective parents' graves together, sharing in that grief, but also sharing in the love that was there to begin with. Her job scares the hell out of me, but I am so proud of what she is doing and I just want the chance to support her with the unconditional support that she has shown me while I've been in school. I want her to chase EVERY dream she has, but…with your permission, I'd really like the chance to chase those dreams with her."

"I know what you guys lived through and I wish more than anything I could make the past go away, but I can't. She threw herself in front of a lot of bad stuff to keep you safe and I know you did the same. But today, I am asking you to see me for the kind of man I am and know in your heart that I would sooner walk into oncoming traffic than ever hurt your sister in any way."

"She totally stole my heart buddy and I love her. I want to marry her, build a life and a family with her, but all that depends on what you say. Do I have your permission to ask Callie to marry me?" Jude was silent as he looked between the ring and Luca who looked pale at the thought of Jude saying no.

"When we were little, we didn't dream about much. We dreamt about living to see the next day. That's how bad things were. She never got to dream about falling in love or getting married or holding her own children one day. She gave up every dream she deserved to have to keep me alive and I will regret that sacrifice for her every day of my life…or at least I thought I would have too. Then she met you, fell in love with you and now here we are with a ring you want her to have." Jude put the ring back in front of Luca and took a breath to ease the tears that were streaming down his face.

"You are the kind of man she should've had the chance to dream about all those years ago. You are the kind of man she should have dreamt of sharing her heart with. You, not anyone else, you. I always thought no man could ever be good enough for her, for MY sister, but then you literally came crashing into our lives and...even though she didn't dream it for herself, you are the type of man I dreamt of for her to one day find."

"Actually you're better than the dream I had in my head." Jude stood up from his seat and so did Luca, not sure what was going on. Jude reached out his hand, it was shaking like a leaf but there it was.

"She deserves the absolute best and that means having you as a husband. So…you have my blessing to ask her to marry you." Luca let out the breath he had been holding and ignored Jude's hand and instead embraced him, resulting in the two of them crying. When they had both calmed down, Luca put the ring back in his pocket and both boys sat down.

"You ok buddy?" Jude nodded as he brushed away tears.

"I will be. Just…promise me something."

"Name it."

"I don't care how weird or strange it is…let her dream every single dream she wants. Don't take them from her ever, just let her have them. She had a lifetime of no dreams and hopes and now I want her life to be full of nothing but dreams and hopes for better days. Just don't ever let her stop dreaming again. Promise me that." Luca never saw Jude look so serious, but he knew what Jude was asking for and he was glad to offer that promise to the boy.

"You have my word buddy. Every dream she ever has will have my full support and I will move heaven and earth to make sure they become realities." Jude nodded his head and smiled.

"Good. Then good luck with the proposal."

"Thanks buddy."

"And you know what, for some reason I always did want another brother. So I guess we both got what we wanted today."


	4. It'll Be A Surprise

**I am so so sorry for how long it has taken for me to get this chapter up. Things are really hard right now in my Doctorate program and it needed my attention and it just left no time for writing. Tonight I am taking a break for myself and getting some writing done just to keep myself sane and to hopefully make things up to all of you. Hope you enjoy.**

The trip to Florida was another eventful one for the Foster clan. This time however, they were a bit more organized and knew where they were going and how prepared they needed to be for Callie's graduation and for the information that was sure to follow. This graduation ceremony was much smaller than Callie's basic training graduation. Special forces usually means smaller numbers and more intimate settings for the ceremony to take place. The family watched as Callie and her class of aviation swimmers received their ceremonious certificates of completion and much like the basic training graduation, everyone had a job to do. The twins were in charge of pictures because both moms, Jude and Luca were too emotional to hold a camera, much less shoot a picture.

They listened to a handful of speeches and then collectively lost their minds when the ceremony was over. This time, they didn't have to fight their way through a crowd…Callie was able to see her family and be at their side in mere seconds. There was a significant amount of hugging, congratulations and messy kisses to Callie's cheeks. In the midst of all this celebration a young man walked up to Callie and interrupted the family moment. Callie turned to the man and smiled, quickly clapping her hand on the man's shoulder before turning to her family.

"Guys, this is Will. Will and I were in boot camp together and he'll be working on a team with me and a few other people on our chopper." Will looked mildly terrified at the sheer size of Callie's family, but he shook everyone's hand and smiled when they congratulated him. He turned to Callie and took a step away, indicating that he was leaving.

"I just wanted to come introduce myself, but I will let you get back to your family. You should tell them the good news Foster." With a wink Will returned to his own family and friends that were gathered not far away.

"Tell us what good news?" Stef was the first to break the family silence once Will had left. Callie reached into her back pocket and held up a folded piece of paper with a smile.

"I got my orders and…guess who is coming home?"

"You're coming back to California?" Jude asked excitedly.

"Better. I'll be in San Diego, maybe 30 minutes from the house. So I'm coming home home." After San Diego, no one heard anything, they were all too busy celebrating and hugging each other and Callie.

Sharon was the first to break apart from the pack and declare, "all right gang, this is call for a celebration. Dinner is on grandma tonight. GI Jane over here gets to pick." The family finished taking pictures at the ceremony and then slowly piled into cars and headed back to the hotel to drop off their things before heading to dinner.

There was a 20 minute wait at the restaurant so everyone walked around the wharf, looking at shops and window shopping. Callie was with Mariana in one store, leaving Luca to look out of the water where the sun was just starting to set. He felt someone standing next to him and eventually he knew it was Stef, just based off of how she stood.

"So…now we know she'll be working near home. Does that mean that ring is going to stop burning a hole in your pocket?"

"You seem more nervous than I am."

"It's not everyday my baby gets engaged."

"Well, you have my word, it won't be today. I have my plan ready and once she's back home and settled into her new role…then I'll ask her. Might wait until after my graduation, then she won't say no thinking that I'm sacrificing school for her."

"Well…if you need help setting it up, you know we are all willing to help out."

"Oh I know, but no offense Stef…you guys would give it away in a hot second. You'd all be grinning ear to ear and she would know something is up. So I may accept your help, but when it happens…it'll be a surprise to you too. That I can promise you."

 **Ok…so it is ver very short and I'm sorry. I want to make the next chapter Luca graduating and the proposal. There is a lot of stuff going on right now in school and it has to come first you guys so bear with me, I haven't given up and this story is sometimes the only thing that keeps me going when I am writing a boring paper.**


	5. Best Earthly Companion

Not long after Callie's graduation, the family was gearing up for two more. Brandon's graduation and showcase came first, which meant another trip for the family, this time to New York. Then it was Luca's turn, which allowed everyone to go back to San Diego. Callie was almost ready to move back home to begin her new orders, but for the time being, she was traveling with her family with no more than a suitcase with her dress uniform and some extra clothes in it. The night before Luca's graduation, the Fosters hosted a dinner for both families at their home, allowing all the kids (who weren't really kids anymore) to spend time together with their parents. The twins were both home from school for the summer, with both of them heading into their senior year the following fall. Jude was also done with school for the summer and was glad to spend his time with all his siblings. Jude would never admit it, but he missed the craziness that came from having so many people in the house. He was no longer the young boy who was shy and quiet. He had matured in a way that made both his mothers and Callie very proud and beyond that…he was constantly making his principal's life as much of a living hell as possible.

Sanchez wasn't so dumb as to ever try to come after Jude…she valued her life too much to have Callie send the Navy after her. That being said, she wasn't the best at changing her very set in stone personality, which meant that she and Jude had their moments of nose to nose battles that Lena usually ended up ending with some kind of peaceful resolution. All that to say, Jude was glad for the time with his family since he too would be heading into his senior year in the coming fall. With so much change going on in his family, Jude was happy for the moments they got to come together and just be whole once again.

Stef was eyeing Luca all night to see if he would propose then or wait until after his graduation was over and things had settled. Luca would catch her looking every so often and he would give her hand signals to stop, mostly because if Callie saw, she would ask questions and eventually figure out what was going on. Stef did her level best to spend the rest of the evening talking to Luca's mother, commiserating about their babies growing up. Both families lost track of time and it wasn't until Luca's sisters were falling asleep sitting up did they realize that everyone should be getting ready to go home and head to bed in an effort to be ready for the big day that tomorrow would bring with it. Luca's parents left with his sisters and he was about to follow him, but he and Callie were saying goodbye on the front porch.

"How's it feel…almost being a college graduate?"

Luca smiled, "it feels unreal. These last few years kind of flew by and now school is over and it's…very humbling I guess."

"Well, you earned it baby. And I am so glad I get to be there to support you like you did for me at my graduations." Luca let Callie snuggle into his chest for a minute and Callie could hear his heart beat faster.

"You ok?" Luca nodded and offered a sad smile.

"I just wish he could've been here. I guess a part of me still thinks he's going to walk through the door and come home and when big events happen like this…it hurts to remember that he isn't here."

"Baby, if I learned one thing about that kind of pain is that…you'll always half expect them to walk back through the door. But your dad wouldn't want you to spend your big day wishing he was there. He'll be there in the best way he can be and he would be really proud of you." Luca offered Callie a quick kiss and nodded to his car.

"You're right, you always are. I should head home though. Gotta get some sleep for tomorrow." Callie watched as Luca climbed into his car and pulled out into the street, soon driving out of sight. As she headed back into the house, she helped her mothers clean up downstairs and get the dishes done before heading to bed herself. Truth be told, neither Callie nor Luca slept much that night, both for different reasons. Callie was excited for Luca and had a lot of emotions running through her head. On the other side of town, Luca lay awake, every now and then turning on his side to look at the velvet black box that sat on his nightstand. It wasn't that he thought Callie would say no, but…well, he was asking her to marry him and he knew that was no small moment. It would set the stage for the next stage of both of their lives and it terrified him and excited him all at the same time. Eventually, exhaustion got the better of him and Luca managed to get a few hours of sleep before his alarm went off.

He showered, got dressed, put his regalia in the car and made sure he ate something even though his stomach was in knots. Before he was set to head to campus his mother came downstairs, still dressed in her bathrobe.

"You leaving already?"

"They told us to be on campus by 8:30 so we could get lined up in order and so we can park before everyone else in the world tries to do the same thing." His mother listened as her son talked, but she also busied herself fixing his tie and smoothing his collar down.

"You know I'm proud of you right?" Luca kissed his mother's forehead and hugged her.

"Yeah mom, I know."

"He's proud of you too honey. Even though he isn't here to experience it." Luca nodded his head and fought back the tears that he knew would fall when he was alone in his car.

"I know mom." Luca sucked in a deep breath to stop himself from crying and offered his mother one more smile.

"I'll see you guys when you get there and after the ceremony. Love you." With that Luca was out the door, leaving his mother to soak in the moment she both looked forward to and dreaded since Luca was born. Her baby wasn't a baby anymore and he was about to graduate from college. Michelle took in the silence and took that moment to silently pray that her late husband was really watching over their family today. With a few more tears, Michelle went back up stairs to get ready for the graduation and to wake up the rest of the family.

Hours later, both families were crowded into seats in the basketball stadium as they nervously awaited for the ceremony to begin. Someone made an announcement and then the President of the university introduced the graduating class. With that, pomp and circumstance began to play and graduates started walking into the lower part of the stadium. As they got toward the end of the alphabet Callie finally caught sight of Luca as he walked to his seat. With both families cheering like crazy it was easy for Luca to find them and flash a big smile as he waved. The ceremony itself seemed to drag on, but when they finally got to the R names everyone was paying attention. When they finally called Luca's name and he walked across that stage accepting his diploma and again waving to his family with a proud grin on his face. No one was sure who was crying more, Callie or Michelle, but either way, both women held each other as they watched Luca return to his seat.

When the ceremony was over and everyone threw their caps (and then found them again) the graduates filed outside to find their families. Luca's sisters found him first, all but tackling him to the ground in a hug. Michelle had her moment with her son that left them both in tears and Nick stepped in and wrapped his arms around his stepson. Once Nick had let go, Callie immediately latched onto her boyfriend and quickly kissed him.

"You did it baby, you are a college graduate."

"Couldn't have done it without you."

"Honey you did do it without me. I was thousands of miles away while you were at school. You did this."

"You were always with me, no matter where you were. I got through some pretty rough days because of texts from you or just looking at your picture. I'm here because of my hard work, but you gave me something to work even harder for and I'll always love you for that."

"See, now you are just saying stuff to make me cry." Luca gave Callie one more kiss before they began taking pictures. Before they left campus, Luca asked one of his friends to take a shot of both families together. It took a few minutes to set up, but finally they fit everyone in frame and got what ended up being a really beautiful picture.

After they left the campus, both families drove to the beach where Luca's parents had reserved a BBQ/picnic area for the party. Luca always loved being outside and he knew Callie loved the beach so a party on the beach just made sense. Everyone had changed into more causal wear and were now moving around the picnic area soaking up the sun, getting ready to go in the water or simply enjoying the company of each other. Food was on the grill continuously for about 3 hours and when everyone was full, they got settled in beach chairs and laid out on blankets to enjoy the late afternoon weather. Jesus, Brandon and Jude all decided to go play around in the water: Luca's sisters joined them after they promised to keep on eye on the younger girls. The parents had begun talking about something that bored the hell out of Mariana so she moved her blanket closer to the water and began once again to work on her tan. Luca turned to Callie and nodded in the direction away from their parents.

"Wanna go for a walk? Try and work off that food so we have room for dessert later?" Callie nodded and let Luca help her up. They told their parents they would be back before the sunset and then they were off. As they left the party, Stef eyed the two of them and wondered if Luca had the ring stuffed in his cargo shorts. She let the thought slip from her mind and returned to the conversation at hand.

After walking up and down the beach, occasionally wadding a few inches into the water, Callie and Luca had settled on a spot just far enough from the picnic site to where they would have their privacy. It was getting later in the day and Luca could hear his step-father struggling to start the bon fire so they could make s'mores. Ignoring the noise from down the beach, the two of them sat in the sand, just looking at the water, saying absolutely nothing to each other. Eventually, Callie broke the silence.

"I can hear you thinking. All those gears in your head are grinding away when they should be relaxing. What's wrong?" Luca smiled and wrapped his arms around Callie as he sat behind her.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing is wrong, I was just thinking."

"About what?" Luca took a deep breath, realizing that he wasn't going to get a more perfect moment than the one he was presented with right then.

"I was thinking about you and me."

"Good thoughts?"

"Always good thoughts."

"What were you thinking about that is making you smile so big?"

"I was thinking about how lucky I am to have met you and fallen in love with you. How lucky I was you said yes to that first date and to that second date even though the first one was a disaster. I was thinking about all the times we got to share over holidays and all the holidays you and I missed because we couldn't come home. Just thinking about all the memories we made the last few years." Callie leaned back into Luca's arms and smiled.

"We do have a gross amount of happy memories don't we."

Luca laughed with Callie, "yeah we do."

"And today, with you graduating we have another good memory to add to our rather impressive collection." Luca was silent for half a second before he gathered up all his nerve and spoke.

"What if we added one more memory to today?"

"Well, you are the graduation boy. What memory do you want to make today?" Luca grabbed the box out of his pocket and with Callie's back still leaning into his chest he held the box open, showing the ring to Callie.

"I would really like to make the memory of you agreeing to be my wife." Luca could actually feel Callie stop breathing for a split second…then the tears started. Luca moved so that he was now in front of Callie, who was losing her mind as she looked at the ring before her.

"I know we're young and maybe people think I'm a little bit stupid for doing this at such a young age, but I've known I wanted you to be my wife since that day at senior retreat. I knew that day, that there was never a moment I didn't want you in my life. You silenced a storm in my heart that had been there ever since my dad died. You took that stinging pain away. You let me comfort you when you fell apart. You let me be there for you and you were there for me. I want a lifetime of that Callie. I want to spend my life making happy memories with you and when the bad memories come up or something hurts us, I want to be there with you so we can face it together. I want to watch you grow in your career. I want to live in a small apartment with you while we dream about our dream house that I'll build for us one day. I want to fill that house with kids, our kids. But mostly, Callie, mostly I just want to be able to hold your hand and call you my wife because you stole my heart and I think I'd like it if you held onto it." Luca adjusted his body so that even in the wet sand they were now sitting in, he was kneeling on one knee while Callie looked at him through tear filled eyes.

"I ask you to pass through life at my side—to be my second self, and best earthly companion." Well, that did it. Callie had been crying before, but Luca using a line from her favorite book to propose was the thing that sent Callie over the edge into the emotional space where she couldn't speak. To his credit, Luca stayed like that for a few minutes while Callie collected herself and when she finally took a deep breath, she looked at Luca, who had tears in his eyes too.

"You want to marry me?" Luca smiled and let the tears freely flow from his eyes.

"Very much so. But first you have to say yes." Luca winked at Callie and Callie broke into a fit of crying laughter. When she took a deep breath, she leaned forward and kissed Luca before pulling back a few inches.

"Of course I'll marry you." Luca let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and quickly slipped the ring on Callie's finger. Callie didn't mean to, but she tackled Luca into the sand and kissed him before pulling back just enough to let the boy sit up.

"This must have cost you a fortune baby."

"Nope, it cost my dad a fortune. He left it to me for the day I found a girl special enough to wear it and since I found her I figured I should probably use that ring before she realized I was a nerd and left me." Luca winked at Callie and was met with another kiss.

"I love you. We have to go tell our family." Callie pulled Luca to his feet and they began to walk toward the picnic site. About half way there, Stef noticed the two of them walking back, this time with Callie snuggled into Luca's side and her heart skipped a beat. She knew what had happened and what big news they would be met with when the two of them got back to the site. She could've warned her wife, but instead Stef stayed quiet and waited for the couple to return with what she expected to be very happy news.

 **Ok so I was mean and ended it there. I can show the family response next chapter. This last month ahs been really bad with my depression and school has been rough, so updates are slow, but this story keeps me sane sometimes so bear with me. Thanks for being patient.**


	6. Right Where It Belongs

**Thank you all for being patient. My dissertation is taking up so much time and depression does not make that any easier. Hope you like the reaction chapter.**

When the couple returned to the campsite, everyone had gathered around the campfire that Luca's stepdad had finally managed to get started. Luca didn't know how they should play this, but Callie seemed to have things under control so he played along and tried to pretend that nothing out of the ordinary had happened. It was dark and only the light of the fire glowed so that everyone could see so it wasn't obvious that Callie had a ring on her hand. As they all passed out marshmallows Stef eyed both of them carefully, knowing full well what had happened, but waiting for them to announce it to the rest of the family. As they patiently waited for their marshmallows to roast Callie casually started a very seemingly random conversation with her sister.

"Mariana, how hard would it be to make a dress?"

Mariana thought for a moment before answering. "Depends on what you make it out of and which one of my professors is grading it. Some of them are real hard graders so designing for them is a nightmare. Otherwise, it's not hard at all. Why?"

"Well, you've been bugging me to let you dress me up in your designs for years now and I figured what the hell, but I get to call the shots on what kind of design you put together."

"Since when do you care about designs? For that matter, since when do you care about dresses? Don't you live in a uniform now?"

Callie responded without ever looking up from the fire, like it was a normal conversation.

"Well my understanding is that a lot of women get married in wedding dresses, so I just figured I should probably wear one too." Every single conversation stopped and everyone turned to Callie.

"You're joking." Mariana was not totally convinced until Callie casually held up her hand and let her sister see the ring that was now very obvious. The scream that Mariana let out shook everyone out of their silence and now everyone was collectively losing their minds. Mariana was still holding Callie's hand and examining the ring.

"Oh my sweet lord, Callie it's beautiful. You sir, have excellent taste in jewelry." Luca beamed and smiled, "my dad gave it to my mom way back when, so he had excellent taste in jewelry." Mariana squealed again and wrapped her arms around Callie.

"You're getting married!" Mariana let go of her sister, but Callie wasn't free for very long. Her mothers were right behind Mariana and were fast to scoop Callie up into a mama sandwich.

"Congratulations baby, we are so so happy for both of you." After absorbing all the love from her mothers, she pulled back and read their expressions.

"You knew he was going to do it, didn't you?"

Stef nodded and smiled with tears in her eyes. "He came by the house one day and showed us the ring and asked for our permission."

Lena chimed in. "We of course told him it wasn't needed, but he was hell bent on being very traditional about it."

"I'm surprised he asked you guys over Jude. I would've thought Jude made him more nervous." At that point her baby brother came up and hugged her from behind.

"He did ask me and I think he was afraid I was going to tell him no. I know we all knew this before, but damn Callie he's nuts about you. I wasn't about to say no to him." Callie turned around with a big goofy smile spread across her face.

"You are a pretty amazing little brother, you know that right?'

"Yeah, well, I had a pretty amazing big sister who raised me right so…" Callie let Jude have his moment. All their lives Callie had done all the sacrificing and all the giving so that Jude could be happy and in this one situation, Jude felt as though he was able to repay a small part of that love by showing his sister that he cared enough to scare her fiancé and then give his blessing on a marriage he knew would make his sister happier than ever before.

The rest of the family eventually hugged and congratulated both Callie and Luca and everyone was a mess of smiles and tears. As everyone settled down and began to soak up the emotions that were running all over the place, Luca's mother sat down next to Callie and admired the ring on Callie's finger with a small smile as she remembered that same ring on her finger.

"You know, it took me 6 months after Lucian died before I took that ring off. Something about it felt so final. Putting it away in that safe deposit box was hard…knowing that the next time that ring would see the light of day would be when it was being put on another woman' hand was harder. But I gotta say Callie, the moment we met in that hospital room after that accident, I knew Luca had already fallen in love with you, I just didn't know how deeply until some time had passed. I saw the way he looked at you and vise versa and it reminded me of how it felt when my late husband was alive. All of a sudden, I didn't worry about the day that ring would be taken out of that box. I started to look forward to it because it meant that you'd be an official member of our family and these two crazy groups of people would come together to make one really crazy family. You make my son very very happy and after his dad died, well, I worried that I would never see him smile like that again…then he met you. And it was like the light in his eyes came back and it was a beautiful thing to see as his mother. I worried all those years ago about the woman he would give that ring to, now, it warms my heart to see it on your finger." Callie held her future mother-in-law's hand and the two smiled and cried.

"You think he would've liked me? Luca's dad?"

Michelle smiled and gripped Callie's hand a little tighter. "Oh honey, he would've adored you. If he was still alive he would've thrown that ring at Luca the second he met you…he had that uncanny ability to see that love in an instant…he said it's how he knew he was going to marry me so soon after we met. I know he's somewhere, very happy and proud that this ring no longer has to sit in a box collecting dust."

"Thank you for sharing this with him and allowing him to share it with me. I know how much it must mean to you."

"Honey, that ring always stood as a symbol of a very deep and profound love that my husband and I shared and now it'll do the same thing for you and Luca. It's not my ring anymore darling, it's your's and it's right where it belongs as far as I am concerned."

 **Ok, so a little short, but I wanted to get this chapter up. Let me know what you'd like to see because I have major plot ideas but am happy to fill in smaller stories if people want to see something special. Thanks for being patient.**


	7. One More Walk

**Thanks for all the feedback folks. Everyone wanted to see some kind of moment with Callie and the moms and people mentioned having it be something about wedding planning. There is one conversation that I want the three of them to have and I guess now is a good time for them to have it. Fair warning, finals are coming up and I'm trying to keep my head above water so the next update my take some time.**

It had been a week since Callie and Luca had gotten engaged and things had finally settled down a little bit…but only a little bit. Callie was looking for places near the base that she and Luca could rent so the kitchen table was decorated with rental ads and flyers for different apartment buildings. Lena came in the front door carrying groceries and Stef was a few steps behind her with her arms full and she was quick to shut the door with her foot.

"Hey sweets, can you help us out this away so mama can start on dinner." Callie put her notes down and went to go help her mothers in the kitchen. She organized things in the pantry, while Lena set to working on dinner. As Callie finished putting the last of the items away she stayed standing in the kitchen even though both her mothers had their backs to her.

"Do you guys have a minute to talk about wedding stuff?" Stef looked over at Lena who already had a goofy grin on her face. They were all about talking about the wedding even though it was likely a ways away.

"Already talking about wedding stuff eh? And here I was thinking we would have at least a few months before that happened." Lena poked Stef's side to tell her to lay off the jokes.

"I'm just kidding love, of course we have a minute. What's on your mind?" Callie rubbed her hands together a few times and then she finally sat down across from both her mothers.

"Luca and I were deciding on who we wanted in our wedding parties. He's still picking a few people for his, but I obviously have the twins, Brandon and Jude and I honestly think I want to keep it at that amount. I have people from training I want to invite, but I don't want to drag any of them into the craziness of the wedding party. Anyway, I got to thinking about it and the thought occurred to me that I hadn't decided on who would walk me down the aisle." Both Stef and Lena looked at each other. They had not expected this conversation to be the first one they had, but they were determined to support Callie with whatever decision she made on this matter.

"I keep running it over in my head. Imagining how I want it to look and the thing of it is…I don't imagine either one of you being the one to do it." Lena was a little surprised, but Stef had a knowing grin plastered across her face because she could see what was coming next.

"Before you get mad, let me explain. I love you both more than anything and you have given me so much, but you guys deserve to have your moment to be walked in as mothers of the bride. So I was thinking that Brandon could walk mom in and Jesus could walk mama in."

"And who exactly would be walking you in? Do you want to walk down the aisle alone?" Lena was fine with whatever Callie wanted, but she was a little confused.

"Hardly. I want someone to walk me down the aisle, but I want it to be the person that has walked with me his whole life and…we both deserve one more walk before I go become someone's wife." At this point Lena clued in to what Stef already had in her mind as to what Callie was thinking.

"Have you asked him yet?" Callie smiled and shook her head.

"Not yet. I want it to be a nice moment…he deserves that. I was going to speak to him about it when he got home. You guys aren't mad that I want Jude to walk me down the aisle right? I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but…" Stef waved her hand to get Callie to quit talking.

"Honey, we aren't mad. Not even a little bit. You and Jude have a relationship that no one in this house will ever truly understand and you have a past that none of us can truly appreciate. I would have been shocked if you didn't ask him to give you away."

Callie nodded her head. "It's just…I never dreamt of my wedding until I met Luca and then once I started seeing those moment in my head, the one that always stood out was me holding onto Jude as he walked me down the aisle and I didn't realize how badly I wanted that until I started seeing it in those dreams."

"Honey, you don't have to defend yourself to us. First off, it's your wedding, you get to call the shots. Second, Mom is right, you and Jude have a relationship that neither one of can come close to. It's not a matter of loving someone more, just loving them differently."

"Do you think he'll be ok with doing it?"

"Are you seriously asking if your baby brother would be willing to walk you down the aisle? Callie, you know the answer to that already. He'll be touched and probably very honored. Besides, it give him a chance to do for you what you've done for him his whole life. He'll get to stand up for you, be your support system and make sure you get something you deserve." At that moment the front door opened and slammed shut, something that only Jude seemed to do, so the conversation came to a very abrupt stop.

"Guess that's my cue." Callie left the kitchen table and made her way toward the living room where her brother had settled after entering the house.

 **Short again, sorry. Next one will be that conversation between Jude and Callie**.


	8. Looks Like A Yes To Me

Callie walked into the living room to see her brother flipping through channels, not paying much attention to his surroundings.

"Hey there big shot. Got a minute to talk to your favorite sister?" Jude looked up from the TV and smiled.

"Nothing good on TV anyway, so I guess you have my attention. What's up?" Callie took a seat next Jude and her brother got the feeling that whatever was about to come out of his sister's mouth was important.

"I was talking to moms about the wedding and we made some plans that I wanted you to be a part of."

"You got engaged like ten minutes ago and you already have plans?" Callie smiled and pushed Jude's shoulder playfully.

"I'm serious, this is important weirdo."

"Ok, ok. I'm sorry. What is so important that I need to be made aware of right now?"

"Well I picked out my wedding party and I want my siblings to be my wedding party. Just you guys, god knows that's more than enough people."

"Since I'm the youngest am I the ring bearer? I think I am a little old for that job Cal." Jude winked at his sister and tried to break the serious tone that hung in the room.

"You are correct. You are too old to be my ring bearer, but you are just the right age to be the person who walks me down the aisle." There it was. The reason Jude had felt uncomfortable since Callie sat down. Not because this was an unwelcome offer, far from it. But deep down Jude wanted more time before this conversation happened. More time meant more time with Callie just being his sister, not someone's wife.

"I don't like the idea of giving you away Cal, you're a person not cattle." Callie smiled and rubbed her brothers shoulder.

"I'm not asking you to give me away. I am asking you to walk with me down that aisle. I am asking you to stop when you get to the end of that aisle. I am asking you to put my hand in someone else's. And after all that I am asking you to take you spot in line right behind me as my best man." Jude had held himself together up to that point. Being asked to walk Callie down the aisle was one thing. Being asked to be her best man felt like a whole other deal. Jude was quiet as he looked down at his shoes, ignoring his sister's gaze.

"You really want me to do all that?"

"Yeah buddy, I really want you to do all that. What do you think?"

After a minute of silence Jude spoke, "do you remember the day we left Abby's house, after you got pushed down the stairs?" Callie grimaced as she remembered that day with startling detail.

"Of course I do, why?"

"Do you remember what you told the paramedic when they loaded you into the ambulance that got them to let me ride with you?"

Callie searched her brain for that memory, but came up with nothing.

"No, I don't remember much after they showed up. What did I say?"

"You told them, 'Wherever I go, he comes with me or we aren't going anywhere'." Jude turned to his sister who could now see the big tears welled in her baby brother's eyes.

"Wherever you go, I go with you. That's included following you into ever ER you were ever in and it includes right now with you asking me to do this. If you are going to walk down that aisle…I'm gonna be right there with you. If you are going to stand at an alter or in front of some judge or priest, then I'm gonna stand right there behind you." Jude held out his hand to his sister.

"Wherever you go, I go. Always."

Callie beamed with tears running down her face, "so you'll do it? You'll walk me down the aisle and be my best man?"

"It would be the greatest honor I've ever been given. We braved hell for a long time Callie, I think we both deserve a nice walk where something good happens at the end of it." Callie leaned her head against he brother's shoulder and they stayed like that for a few minutes, quietly crying and soaking up the moment.

"She…she would really have liked Luca and I'm so sorry she won't be there." Callie grabbed her brother face and held onto it like he was going to drift away from her if she didn't hold him.

"She promised in all her letters that she would be there. And I have the best part of her right here and he's gonna walk me down the aisle to my husband." The tears continued for a while, happy tears and tears of mourning for their mother and what she was missing. From the kitchen neither mother heard what was said, but they both looked in the living room and saw the tears and hugging.

"Well, I don't know about you Lena, but that sure looks like he said yes to me."

 **Sorry I know it's short, but finals kept me busy. Hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what kind of chapters you would like to see in between the ones I have planned.**


	9. First Day At Work

**I am super sorry for the delay. School is very crazy right now and I have two night classes this semester so my free time is next to nothing, but I haven't given up this story and so I appreciate everyone who has stuck in there with me. I really appreciate it. Sometimes when I do have the time to write my depression makes it really hard to do so, so I am taking the time tonight to update. Hope it was worth the wait.**

A few weeks later, Callie and Luca had found an apartment not far from the base and only about 15 minutes from the Fosters residence. They had signed the lease earlier that week and were in the process of moving things in and trying to get settled while both working. Luca had found an entry-level job at the firm he had interned with in college and he was happy to be working with his mentors and they were happy to have him stay with the company. Callie spent her days on base doing paperwork, training or any other manner of random thing, but so far they had not been called out to a rescue, but Callie knew that things wouldn't stay quiet forever…she knew that somewhere a storm was brewing that she would have to contend with.

That Friday night Callie had wrapped up things at the base early, had finished unpacking the last of their moving boxes and was currently at her mothers' house helping them with dinner and waiting for Luca to join them. They had just sat down to dinner when the phone rang and since she was the closest Lena grabbed the phone.

"Foster residence." Lena listened carefully, frowned slightly and then held the phone out for Callie to take from her.

"It's for you and whoever it is sounds serious." Callie matched her mother's facial expression and grabbed the phone.

"Foster."

"Callie, it's Will, listen we got a situation not far off the coastline and the Coast Guard are asking for help so we got the green light." Callie got up from the table and without saying anything to her family she entered the hallway that led to the stairs.

"How long do we have?"

"We'll be at your place in 5 minutes and you need to be ready to roll out when we get there."

"How did you even know I was at my moms' house?"

"I tried your cell and got nothing so I figured it was a safe bet. We'll be there in five so suit up." The phone disconnected and Callie was left momentarily stunned before she sprang into action and began calling for Jude while she ran up the stairs. Jude appeared at the base of the stairs and looked at his sister with a bit of panic, knowing full well what was going on…Callie had trained him and the rest of the family for this moment exactly.

"How long?"

"5 minutes, go grab my gear and leave the front door open." Callie disappeared into her old bedroom where she now kept one large duffle bag loaded with her gear. Callie quickly discarded the clothes she was wearing on the floor and put on her wet suit and her uniform on over that. After quickly throwing her hair up in a ponytail Callie grabbed her bag and headed back downstairs only to be met with her whole family standing at the front door with nervous expressions.

"Guys, it's going to be fine. We can't freak out every time I get called into work." Callie smiled and tried to calm them down, but no one was having it. Callie couldn't say much else before a car pulled up out front and Will jumped out from the back and stood by waiting for Callie to get in. Jude handed his sister he other bag of gear that she kept in the garage and with a quick kiss to his cheek she was out the door and in the car, which promptly sped away seconds later. Everyone stood around for a while in mild shock.

"Come on guys, there isn't anything we can do now. Callie's at work and we have dinner waiting so let's go ok." Stef ushered everyone back to the table and everyone tried to force themselves to eat. A few minutes into this suddenly silent dinner the front door opened and they heard Luca call out to them. He soon joined them in the kitchen and grabbed an empty seat.

"What's with all the long faces? You guys are never this quiet at the dinner table." Luca finally took a look around the table and realized who was missing and his face paled a little bit.

"When did she leave?"

"A few minutes ago." Jude answered as he picked at his food and tried to avoid eye contact with his soon to be brother in law. Luca pulled himself together and tried to sound not worried.

"This is just something we are going to have to get used to you guys. It's part of her job and yeah its scary, but she's going to be fine." Luca forced himself to believe what he just said and then forced himself to eat, hoping everyone else would follow suit. They still ate in silence, but they did eat. Later on Luca was helping Stef wash the dishes, another task done in silence, when suddenly Brandon started shouting for everyone to come in the living room. Luca almost dropped the plate in his hands and even with soapy water clinging to his arms he ran into the living room only to be met with a news story about two boats crashing into each other about 30 miles off the coastline of San Diego. The picture was constantly moving as the result of being filmed from a helicopter that was being kept at a relative distance. Luca scanned the screen for Callie's crew and when they did another full sweep of the scene he spotted their helicopter in the upper corner of the screen.

The rest of the family had by then joined him in the living room and everyone just kind of stood there. They listened to the news anchor explain what had happened, but their eyes were glued to the helicopter that was hovering a low as they could without being in danger of crashing themselves. The news camera began to focus on the rescue efforts and the camera cut between Callie's crew and the Coast Guard that had boats in the water. Soon the door of the helicopter was thrown open and Luca and the rest of the family watched as Callie and Will both locked themselves into harnesses and were lowered down from the helicopter to the wreckage of boats below. Luca finally sat down in front of the TV and turned the volume up in the hopes of hearing anything useful, but it was just mindless chatter and none of it made him feel better.

A different camera that was clearly on a boat that boarded the wreckage began filming and now he could see Callie and Will as they worked with Coast Guard officials to get passengers off each vessel and onto rescue boats. They all watched and saw Callie picking up people and handing them over to the rescue teams and even from the far away camera shot they could see Callie yelling an pointing her orders to anyone who would listen. Will stayed on the first boat and helped finish clear it of everyone and while he did that Callie boarded the other boat that was smaller and had therefore taken a much worse beating when the two vessels collided.

Callie could see smoke coming from the engine of the boat and she knew they had precious time to clear this boat before the engine room exploded on them. She knew this boat was only supposed to be carrying four people, two adults and two children. Will quickly joined her as she found an adult male who was unconscious. They carefully moved him onto a rescue boat and then returned to searching for the other three passengers. Will found a female towards the bow of the ship and she was injured, but awake. He quickly scooped her up and rushed her over to the rescue boats before rejoining the search for the two kids. Callie could hear crying, but the smoke was thick and she couldn't see much so she continued to follow the sound. Eventually she made her way up to what would've been the cabin that housed the controls, but what was left of it was a mess of wood and plastic that was engulfed in smoke. Callie saw a small child through the smoke and she reached out to him.

"Sweetie I need you to come here so I can get you off the boat and back with your parents ok?" The boy was almost frozen in place and then Callie noticed he had a smaller child, maybe a five year old cradled in his lap and this child was unresponsive.

"Listen honey, I'm going to take your sister and give her to my friend so he can help her and then I'm gonna help you ok?" The boy nodded and let Callie lift his sister from his lap and Callie yelled for Will. Callie quickly handed him the child and pushed him to get off the boat.

"That engine is going to blow any minute, get her and yourself off this damn boat."

"Then grab the other kid and do the same Foster. Today isn't the day to be a hero Callie." Will ran from Callie with the girl in his arms and he quickly was brought onto a rescue boat, leaving Callie alone on the boat with the young boy.

"I know it's scary honey, but look." Callie showed the boy her uniform tab that said Navy. "That means I help people so you need to come with me so you don't get hurt." The boy seemed to finally be shaken from his shock and reached his arms towards Callie. Callie held the boy tight to her chest and turned to run off the boat when something caught her eye: fire.

"Honey, listen to me, we have to jump into the water ok, so you need to hold on tight to me and do not let go ok. Here put this on." Callie quickly shed her lifejacket and put it on the boy even though it was a bit too big for him it would keep him above water in the long run. Callie picked the boy back up and ran full speed to the other end of the boat before jumping into the water about 2 seconds before the engine room and most of the boat went up in flames.

Back at home all the Fosters saw was Callie disappear into smoke and then come running off the boat and jumping into the water right before a powerful explosion destroyed what was left of the boat. No one said anything and everyone seemed to be too scared to breathe. The whole family scanned the image on the screen as the news reporter explained that a rescue diver had entered the water and they were now looking for her and the child. Seconds later the child surfaced, thanks to the lifejacket Callie had all but stapled to his body. They quickly fished him out of the water and began to tend to his injuries which, thanks to Callie, we not as bad as they could've been.

"Where is she?" Luca said what everyone in the living room was thinking, but now one had an answer for him. His eyes dashed back and forth across the screen searching for Callie even though they could only see half of the scene from the camera angle they had. What seemed like minutes later Luca saw Will jump off the rescue boat he had bee perched on and when the camera followed him, they finally saw Callie floating in the water. It look like she had been hit with debris, but she was swimming on her own and was able to climb onto a rescue boat with only Will's assistance.

Back at home, every breathed a sigh of relief and most of them let go of the tears that had been building up for several tense minutes. Jude put his hand on Luca's shoulder and the older boy tried to act tough, but it wasn't working.

"She's ok Luca. It's ok." Luca nodded his head before standing up from his spot in front of the TV and excusing himself to the backyard. Suddenly being around his family seemed a little too much after almost watching his fiancée get blown up. He told himself that not every day at work was going to be televised and that this case was special. He told himself that Callie was ok and had done her job very well. He told himself all of this and yet he still felt tears rolls down his face when he finally got outside and got a breath of fresh air.

Hours later, Luca sat at the dinning room table with Stef and Lena, drinking coffee and waiting for Callie to return home. The rest of the family waited upstairs, trying to pretend to be doing something to keep their minds off Callie. Luca heard a car pull up outside and he was the first out of his seat and to the door. He only saw a flash of Callie's hair and that was enough for him to run out the front door toward the car and before Callie knew it she was wrapped up in a vice grip hug.

"It's ok baby, I'm fine see. Just a scratch." Luce set Callie down and looked at her forehead that had a cut across it. Not deep enough for stiches, but enough that she would likely have a slight scar when it healed.

"I'm…I'm just glad you came home." Luca pulled Callie back into his chest and she stayed there for a while.

"I am too baby. I am too."

 **So, this would never happen like this, but that's what makes it fiction. Sorry if the end was rushed but I wanted this posted tonight. I can do more of the family's reaction in the next chapter if you want.**


	10. Safe Place

**So most people wanted to see family reactions to Callie coming home so I figured that would be good for this chapter before I move the story along into wedding planning details. In a few chapters I want to do Jude's senior showcase because…well I just want to. I am going to be super busy in the coming weeks, but I am trying to make sure I update this story as my self-care so just hang in there with me.**

Luca grabbed Callie's bag of gear from the back of the car and made his way over to where Callie and Will were standing, having a quick conversation before Will took off. Luca held out his hand to the other man and shook the hand he was offered.

"Glad you both made it out of there. Thanks for helping her out."

"I just helped her get in the boat man, she did all the heavy lifting. I should let you guys relax and calm down after today so I'm going to head home, you call me if you need anything, otherwise we're out of the circulation for a least a few days so enjoy the rest." Will waved at Stef and Lena who were standing on the front porch and after they waved back he got back into his car and drove out of sight. Callie was expecting the next huge she got to be from her parents, but she was proved very wrong as Jude pushed past both their mothers, jumped off the porch and ran to Callie, scooping her up in the process of hugging her.

"Easy Jude, she got a little banged up." Luca warned the boy and Jude gently put his sister down and observed the laceration she had on her forehead.

"Are you ok?" Callie smiled and nodded. "Doctor in the ER said my scans were fine, I just took some debris to the face. I would've been worse if I hadn't jumped when I did, but yeah buddy I'm ok." Jude seemed unsettled that his sister could have been hurt much worse, but deep down the things that bothered him was that she had been hurt much worse than this in the past and he was just tired of seeing her hurt.

"That hard head of yours fine came in handy I guess." Jude tried to use humor to cut the tension between he and his sister and it caused Callie to smile and push his arm playfully. Jude gave his sister a quick kiss to her cheek and grabbed her other bag of gear and carried it back into the garage, praying the whole time that it would be a while before Callie would need to use it again. When they finally did reach the porch Luca stepped aside and let Stef and Lena wrap Callie up in a tight hug. Stef pulled back first and got a good look at her daughter's forehead.

"That looks like it hurts sweets." Callie stopped her mother from touching the cut and gently pushed her hand away. "It only hurts when I touch it, other than that, it's just a small head ache. Doctor said the headache will go away in a few days and eventually this will fade into a light scar or maybe no scar, depends on how well it heals." Stef nodded and kissed the side of her daughter's head.

"That was very brave, but next time…maybe jump a little sooner. And try not to have it televised."

Callie didn't realize until then that her family saw everything she did. The news teams didn't even register in her mind when she was at the scene because she was working and now she felt a pang of guilt for having her family watch her deal with exploding boats and jumping into water with no safety gear on.

"I promise, next time no cameras." Callie turned to Lena and waited for an 'I told you so' or some other remark about how Lena had worried about this very thing happening. She didn't get any of that, just another hug and kiss from her mother, both of which lasted a little longer than usual.

"You did a good job, but if you ever make my heart beat like that again you are so grounded." Callie smiled and nodded.

"I love you too momma." Lena smiled and let Callie finally enter the house where once again she had very little time to relax and calm down before she heard rapid steps coming down the stairs. Mariana almost knocked her down in the process of hugging her and when Brandon and Jesus joined in on the group hug, Luca once again had to intervene and remind them to be gentle. Mariana looked at the cut on her sister's forehead and forced a smile even though it scared her.

"That'll be faded by the time you get married and I fix whatever scar you have left with make up so don't you worry about that." Callie smiled and let her sister hug her again, knowing that everyone needed to feel a little bit closer to her after the day they had all endured. Jesus and Brandon followed suit, both of them making comment on how the scar Callie would have would be badass. Callie knew it was hard for both boys to see their family hurt in any way, but they weren't sure what to do with this situation and Callie understood that because frankly…neither did she. She didn't know how to relax and unwind after all that adrenaline had pumped through her body for such a long time. Callie was snapped back into reality by Luca's voice calling her name.

"Callie." She finally turned to look at him and he offered a worried smile.

"I was asking if you wanted to go home." Callie thought about it. About going back to their apartment and a part of her wanted to do just that. The other part of her wanted to go upstairs and shower, climb into dry clothes and go to bed and suddenly going home felt like it would take the only energy she had left. Luca seemed to read Callie's mind, mostly because she was silent for a long time after his question so he jumped in to help her.

"How about we stay here tonight? You can go shower and we can camp out here for the night. You have got to be tired and probably a little sore. We can go home tomorrow." Callie nodded and kissed Luca's cheek before pointing upstairs.

"I'm gonna go take a nice long shower. I would love whoever would be willing to heat up some leftovers for me because I just realized how hungry I am." Lena nodded and went into the kitchen to throw a plate together for Callie while she showered. Luca and Stef followed her and Stef handed Luca a beer from the fridge and kept one for herself.

"So, you two are staying her tonight?"

"She didn't want to go home. I could see it on her face. She's tired and sore and probably a little freaked out because it was their first call and it ended the way it did. She wants to be where she feels safe. Out apartment isn't…it just doesn't feel like home yet so I knew she would rather stay here, even if it meant sleeping in her old bed or on the couch." Luca drank from the bottle in his hand and looked back at Stef.

"Eventually your place will feel like home, it just takes some time." Luca nodded.

"I know, but deep down I also know that whenever anything big happens, good or bad, she is going to want to come running here. This was the first house she felt safe in and now it's a part of her…it's her safe place."

"No honey, this…it is just a house. You, me, Lena, the kids, all of us are her safe place." Luca smiled and nodded at Stef's observation and the two of them stayed silent for a while, trying to let themselves relax after a long day of getting used to be a Navy family.

 **So the ending was a little rocky, but I wanted to get this up tonight. Hope to had more soon. Let me know if you want to see anything special aside from what I have planned.**


	11. Shine Bright

**Sorry for the delay folks I had a huge assignment due for my PhD program and it just about killed me. Thanks for hanging in with me.**

After a few months of Callie getting called away for different rescues, everybody started to get used to her having to leave randomly during dinners or being absent from different family gatherings. It took time, but everyone was beginning to get used to the feeling they got when they watched her leave, always hoping she would come back safe. All that to say the last few months had been busy for everybody. School was back in session, which meant Lena and Jude were back at Anchor Beach during the day. Jude was busy preparing to audition for the senior showcase, much like his two older siblings had done their senior year. Much like Callie, he kept what he was performing to himself and didn't ask for help, insisting that he wanted it to be a surprise.

When the night of the auditions came, Callie made sure she had the night off, barring some huge emergency. She and Luca were going to meet the family at the school before the performance and Stef suspected that a part of Callie didn't ever want to step foot back in that school, if for no other reason than their principal had remained the same. Lena had reserved the front row for her family and of course she was tasked with saving a seat for her boss. As Stef flipped through the program Lena could feel her anger bubbling just below the surface.

"If you keep it up, I'm gonna make you go sit in the car while the performance happens."

"I don't like her Lena. I never really did and after all that bullshit she put Callie through I really didn't like her, but now…she's lucky Callie's been busy or else she'd be real sorry she's been giving her baby brother a hard time."

"We agreed not to tell her about all that. She has enough going on and I don't need her and you storming the school to defend Jude's honor. This is not as bad as it was with Callie, she just knows which buttons to push."

"And that doesn't bother you?" Stef's bighting question was met with a hand in her face as Lena saw her boss walking toward them and they needed to end this conversation before Stef got really heated and couldn't be stopped.

"Lena, Stef, nice to see you both here. Last one of these for you guys. Exciting times." Stef forced a smile, but she still looked pissed.

"I see most of your family is here, but I don't think I see Callie. I would've thought she'd be here on her baby brother's big night." Stef stood up, but was cut off again, this time by a force behind Karin.

"You thought correctly ma'am." Karin turned around to see Callie and Luca standing there, both with fake smiles on their faces. Luca was in a button down shirt and tie, but Callie…Callie was in uniform.

"Callie…Mr. Russo, so glad to see you both return for this event."

"Wouldn't have missed it." Callie took a step forward, invading her former principal's personal space.

"I hear congratulations are in order. Your mother told me about the engagement. When is the wedding?"

"Not sure yet. It'll be a longer engagement though. We want to get settled in at work and be able to plan a nice wedding. We're in no rush." The lights flashed off and on to signal people to take their seats and Luca was glad to nudge Callie towards her chair as he sat himself next to Stef.

Stef leaned over and whispered, "she didn't work today, why is she wearing her uniform?"

Luca glanced at Stef with a knowing grin. "You know perfectly well why she's wearing it." Stef settled back in her chair with a satisfied grin across her face. Callie wanted to put that little bit of the fear of God into Karin and remind her that messing with Jude, even just a little was a very poor life choice. The lights went out completely and the program started. Jude was set to perform towards the beginning so the family didn't have to wait long before he was set to perform next. The stage lights came on softly at first, only bright enough to see Jude standing there with a guitar in his hands.

That was enough to surprise his family, who knew the boy could sing, but never had any idea he knew how to play the guitar. The intro music was soft and Stef was sure she had heard this song before and it didn't take long for her to place where she had heard it.

 _When the calls and conversations_

 _Accidents and accusations_

 _Messages and misperceptions_

 _Paralyze my mind_

Stef looked over at Callie who looked like she was already close to crying, telling Stef that she remembered that day in the backyard that started…well everything. She remembered the song she sang to her baby brother to soothe his fears and it appeared that he remembered it too.

 _Busses, cars, and airplanes leaving_

 _Burning fumes of gasoline_

 _And everyone is running_

 _And I come to find a refuge in the_

 _Easy silence that you make for me_

 _It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me_

 _And the peaceful quiet you create for me_

 _And the way you keep the world at bay for me_

 _The way you keep the world at bay_

Jude didn't use pictures like Callie had when she did her audition. He stuck with the guitar and his voice and honestly, he didn't need anything else. He had his family's attention along with everyone else's.

 _Monkeys on the barricades_

 _Are warning us to back away_

 _They form commissions trying to find_

 _The next one they can crucify_

Jude shot a look at his principal and both Callie and Stef felt a little proud at the not so subtle jab at the woman that none of them cared for.

 _And anger plays on every station_

 _Answers only make more questions_

 _I need something to believe in_

 _Breathe in sanctuary in the_

 _Easy silence that you make for me_

 _It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me_

 _And the peaceful quiet you create for me_

 _And the way you keep the world at bay for me_

 _The way you keep the world at bay_

 _Children lose their youth too soon_

 _Watching war made us immune_

 _And I've got all the world to lose_

 _But I just want to hold on to the_

Jude turned and looked Callie dead in the eye as he finished the song.

 _Easy silence that you make for me_

 _It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me_

 _And the peaceful quiet you create for me_

 _And the way you keep the world at bay for me_

 _The easy silence that you make for me_

 _It's okay when there's nothing more to say to me_

 _And the peaceful quiet you create for me_

 _And the way you keep the world at bay for me_

 _The way you keep the world at bay for me_

 _The way you keep the world at bay._

The music played out and eventually the last note died and that silence was soon replaced by a substantial applause from the audience. Of course the family were all on their feet and so was Karin if for no other reason she knew better to stay seated with Callie Foster mere feet away. The other performances continued throughout the rest of the evening and they were all good, but Callie was confident that Jude would get one of the spots in the senior showcase.

Sure enough, at the end of the performances, they lined the students up and one by one announced those who had been chosen to perform later that year. Unlike with Callie, they did not have to wait till the very end of the list, as Jude's name was the third one called. Again, the family was on their feet cheering and brushing away tears. The final names were called and the program ended. Callie knew she had a few minute before Jude would appear from backstage and she took her opportunity to move next to her mother who was speaking to her boss.

"Another Foster family success story, wouldn't you say so Principal Sanchez?"

The older woman nodded and smiled, "your brother did a lovely job Ms. Foster. Clearly music unites your family. He is a very gifted young man."

"He is, extremely gifted. I knew that since he was born. I know that because until we found our moms, I raised him. I think in the last few years you forgot that, so allow me the chance to remind you." Callie stepped closer to the woman and Lena wasn't sure what to do, but Stef kept her hand on Lena's shoulder, silently telling her to let it happen: Callie knew something was up and she was going to fix it right now, her way.

"I changed diapers, played toys, read books, soothed fevers, tended to bruises and busted lips from the abuse we endured. I walked through hell with that boy and he will always be my first and greatest love and until the day comes when they place my own son in my arms, he will always be my little boy. My moms are his parents and I will not ever undermine what they did for us or how much they love him: he is their son. However, you would do well to remember that he was my son first and I will protect him as such probably forever. I don't know what you've been up to because my mothers have kept it secret thinking that I didn't need the stress because of my job." Lena and Stef both felt their stomachs flip a little: Callie knew they had tried to keep it a secret and they only hoped she wasn't mad.

"I'm not mad at them for it though. They were just doing what good parents do: protecting their child, no matter how old they get. That aside: what they don't know and what you must've forgotten is that I have eyes and ears everywhere, so everything you ever did that was unprofessional against my brother, I know about it. Now, he is about to come from backstage and I will not overshadow his achievement with the level of anger I feel towards you in this moment. So I will make this simple and brief. If I hear one more thing about you coming for my brother, I will beat down the door of every school board member until someone listens to me and starts calling for your resignation. My mothers always made them listen when you were messing with me, but they only ever saw me as a juvenile delinquent that you were being hard on, but Jude…he's the perfect kid, so they would never let it slide if they found out you were bullying an honor roll student." Out of the corner of her eye, Callie saw Jude hugging his friends and she knew her time was up.

"You once told me that I was on thin ice with you, well now the tables have turned. He is almost a man and he has two parents who love his fiercely so he doesn't need me to protect him, but he has me to do it anyway. He may not be my "son" anymore, but he is and will always be my boy and I will ruin everything you ever valued in your career if I hear anything more about you hurting him. Do I make myself clear?"

Karin nodded her head and Len noted how very pale her boss looked.

"Very clear Ms. Foster. But, listen…Callie, I…" Callie held up her hand and turned her head away from her former principal.

"I don't need or want your explanation. You actions are inexcusable; I just wanted you to hear that from me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to go celebrate with my brother and our family. Have a good evening ma'am." Callie straightened her uniform in a little display of power before walking away from Karin and heading over to where Jude was hugging Mariana. Stef quickly took her place in front of Karin.

"Well, my daughter took the words out of my mouth. You were smart enough to leave the twins alone, but you just couldn't resist going after her baby brother. That was a truly terrible choice on your part because she has gone to jail defending that boy so there is literally nothing that she won't do for him. That being said, he's my son, Lena's son and I don't like this game you've been playing with him and it ends tonight or so help me God the next thing that will end is our career in education. Understood?" Karin never liked dealing with an angry Stef, but dealing with her right after dealing with a pissed off Callie was almost more than the woman could handle. The only response she could muster was a simple head nod.

"Good, then I'll see you at the senior showcase and then graduation. Enjoy your night Karin." Stef left Karin with Lena and went over to congratulate her son. Karin looked to Lena as if she expected one more blow to come from her. Instead Lena just shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't think there is anything I could say that hasn't already been said. But just so we are clear. If you think I value my job over my child, you are wrong. If it costs me my job ok, but you will stop inappropriately interacting with my son or there will not be a school in California that will hire you after I drag your name through the mud. Goodnight Karin." Lena walked away from her boss and walked to where Jude had finally gotten to hug Callie and every was a mess of tears because of it.

Jude was now much taller than Callie and his voice was no longer soft and docile: he looked and sounded like a man, something that broke his mothers' hearts. Their baby was not a baby anymore and Callie felt that pang of hurt in her heart too. But more than that, she felt a huge swell of pride for Jude and all he had done, both tonight and in school in general.

"You remembered." Jude let go of his sister and kissed her forehead before handing her a tissue.

"I'll never forget. That day, that song…it changed everything for us Callie. If I forgot everything else, I would remember that day and that song." Callie hugged him again, this time both of them holding on a little longer than they needed to.

"I'm so proud of you and I cannot wait to see what you do the next time you perform. You'll be amazing."

"I won't be better than what you did. I don't think I could ever touch that performance, but I'm gonna try."

"Oh Jude. You are going to so good that my performance will be permanently forgotten. You'll shine the brightest out of all of us. I've always known that would be true." Jude pulled away from his sister with big tears in his eyes.

"If I shine ever, at anything, it's because you lit a fire in me when I was little and you never let it go out. You made me this way…you and moms. And I will not ever let you forget that." Jude lost his resolve and ended up pulling Callie back into him and you could see his body shake as he cried and Callie just let him cry. Her tears flowed just as steadily, but she knew that Jude had been through a lot and he needed this moment to feel everything and deal with what he was feeling. When Jude had calmed down he pulled away from Callie and she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek.

"You shine at everything baby brother…absolutely everything." Jude smiled wide and brushed the tears from his eyes. Callie stepped aside and went to talk to Brandon who was talking with their former music teacher who still taught at the school. Jude soon felt a strong hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Luca behind him with a proud smile on his face.

"That was really something buddy. You nailed it." Jude let his soon to be brother-in-law hug him and tears once again welled up in his eyes. Luca held the boy tightly for as long as her needed before letting go and handing the boy a handkerchief.

"I just wanted it to be special for her."

"It was buddy, she felt it, I know she did."

"I want to make the showcase really show my journey with her. Is that terrible? Do you think moms will be upset? I just…we never would've survived to even meet Stef and Lena if not for all the things Callie did. I just want to take this opportunity to show her that I know what she did and I'll never forget it." Luca smiled and began to tear up himself.

"I think your moms will understand Jude. Maybe talk to them about it. Explain it like you just did to me. It's ok to want to tell your story: your's and Callie's." Jude looked a little lost in thought as he looked over at his sister.

"She's special."

"I know she is buddy." Luca stood shoulder to shoulder with Jude as they looked at Callie talk to former teachers as she smiled and laughed along with Brandon.

"I know she is."

 **So again, super sorry about the wait, but sadly school has to come first. I am happy to listen to any ideas of chapter you would like to see. Someone complained about them getting married young. They aren't getting married right this minute and when they do, it's fiction so deal with it. I'm giving them a long engagement for a reason, but it may not seem long in the story because I don't want to be writing this story forever. Anyway, let me know your thoughts and any things you want to see in this story in the coming chapters. Thanks for sticking with me.**


	12. Always The Hero

**Sorry for the wait folks, school had to come first and my depression is making my dissertation really hard to focus on. But I have not abandoned this story. Thanks for bearing with me. Also I couldn't upload right away this to the website because it kept not letting my upload the document.**

Weeks after the showcase things had returned to normal, or at least the closest to normal it ever was around the Foster household. Callie was at her family's home going over wedding dress designs with Mariana. They were spread out on the dining room table with Mariana sketching ideas and Callie offering her thoughts as her sister drew and tore pieces of paper from her sketch book. Stef was at work and Lena was out shopping so it was just Jude, Callie and Mariana at the house.

"I think you would look amazing with an empire waist."

"Depending on how the rest of the design turns out, I think you're right." Mariana continued to draw, but the silence was broken by Callie's phone ringing. Callie quickly grabbed her phone, recognizing the ringtone as the tone that signaled she was being called in to work.

"Foster." Callie frowned deeply as she stood up from the table and ran toward the garage. Mariana recognized that movement so she collected her drawings and began to collect the designs for the dress to take them upstairs. Callie came rushing out of the garage with her gear in hand.

"Tell moms I had to run. There is a down aircraft and it's slowly turning into a big emergency."

"Jesus Christ, like a passenger plane?"

"No, nothing like that. Military plane. Still big trouble and hopefully by the time I get there there will actually be something I can do. Love you." Callie yelled I love you upstairs to her little brother before running out of the house and jumping into the car that was somehow already for her in the driveway. Mariana got used to seeing Callie leave, but the fact that Callie left the house in civilian clothes told her that this crash was a major problem and was enough of an emergency that Callie would have to change into her gear end route to the site. About 15 minutes later Stef came into the house and noticed Mariana drawing into the living room and she took note of the silence in the house and she looked to her daughter as if to ask why things were so eerily quiet.

"Callie got called out. Sounded like a bad one so I wouldn't expect her back till late." Stef sighed and nodded, suddenly having a lot of respect for her wife for putting up with Stef leaving for work every day with the risk to her safety being constantly present, because now she seemed to have the hardest time when Callie was called away for work. Eventually Lena returned home and she convinced Stef to help her make dinner to take her mind off Callie.

An hour later everyone was around the table eating dinner, trying to make small talk even though they all felt like something was off and they couldn't put their finger on it. That is until the front door was thrown open and then slammed shut seconds later. Luca showed up in the kitchen, still dressed from work, but clearly out of breath.

"Turn on the news." Jesus moved to grab the remote in the living room to flip on the news, while everyone else followed behind him.

"I thought Callie promised no more televised rescues."

Luca ran his hand across his face, "I got the impression that she didn't have much of a choice. Military equipment goes down with pilots inside, it's national news." At that moment Jesus settled on a news station that seemed to have stopped all other reporting to be able to report on this emergency situation. Everyone, save for Luca grabbed a seat in the living room and listened to them explain that the aircraft had experienced some kind of malfunction and the pilot had reported the issue seconds before the crash and communication with the aircraft stopped. The news anchors then threw the attention to a reporter that had somehow ended up on a news chopper that was now hovering not far from the wreckage and all the commotion surrounding it.

The young woman talked while the camera stayed focused on the military personnel trying desperately to rescue and recover whatever and whoever they could. After an hour of being in the water, the chances for survival were slim, unless both pilots had managed to get free of the crash before it hit the water. The camera focused on the military helicopters that were trying to coordinate their efforts and that was when they all saw Callie leaning out the door of her aircraft. The news camera was zooming in every chance they got to see what was happening and the family could see that Callie was dripping wet, at least her hair was, which meant she had already been in the water at least once. At that moment the news reporter cued them to play the clip they had recorded earlier of the "heroic efforts to rescue the injured men who were aboard the plane." The clip showed Callie and the member of the other team getting into the water and diving for whole minutes, trying to find the missing men in what was becoming pitch black waters. Eventually they showed Callie come up for air with one of the men with her. She loaded him into the nest and hooked him into it so that he could be safety loaded into her aircraft. While still in the water, Callie was joined by one other member of her team. The idea being that each member would only be in the water so long to avoid injury.

When they cut back to the live shot, the reporter explained that there was still one rescue swimmer in the water and they hadn't seen him surface for a while. As they filmed, they saw the member of the other rescue team come swimming in from off screen with the other pilot on his back more or less.

"Her man is still in the water." Luca said the obvious, but someone had to say it. The fate of the other pilot was unknown, but at that moment they knew that Callie's concern lay with her teammate who had been in that water for far too long. As if that weren't enough, what was left of the crash was still on fire because the fuel was burning, causing concern about an explosion. The news reporter kept talking despite the fact that they were being actively ordered to leave the area.

"Great we might watch someone die on live TV because this dumb woman wants her award for hard hitting journalism." Luca squeezed Mariana shoulder, sharing her concern. They continued to watch in silence and after another 5 minutes they saw the camera move in on Callie who was shouting something into a headset and almost immediately the other chopper circled around and provided a constantly moving source of light on the water. They saw a lot of movement where Callie stood and everyone wondered what was about to happen, but Jude knew the stubborn side of his sister better than anyone.

"She's going in after him."

"That's insane, there's a good chance he's been dead for a while. Why would she risk her safety for that?" Jesus mused, wondering why his sister seemed hell bent on saving someone who might be long gone.

"You think she doesn't know that? She knows he's…not coming back on his own. She wants to bring him home. Give his family something to say goodbye to. So don't sit there and pretend like you wouldn't be praying to every God ever that someone would do the same for us if the tables were turned and she was still in that water." Luca and Stef separated the boy and tried to calm them down and that would've worked except for the fact that second later the explosion they feared…well it happened.

"Well damn it." Jesus mumbled and sat down as he and everyone watched the fire burn and light up the fast approaching darkness that dust brought with it. They watched in confusion as Callie's chopper circled the wreckage several times, each time getting a little bit lower until they were as low as they could be without risking their safety further. The door flew open again and this time they saw Callie prepping to jump. When he looked closer Luca noticed something troubling.

"She's not wearing all her gear. She's going in without any line tied to her." Luca sat on the edge of the coffee table and watched in shock as his fiancé carefully timed her jumped before she took a slightly running leap from the chopper and went diving into the water head first. The minute Callie disappeared into the water, it felt like all the air got sucked out of the room and for a while no one said anything.

Stef laid a hand on Luca's shoulder, with a vice grip on Lena's hand with her free hand.

"She's a strong swimmer and she's stubborn enough to survive this just fine. We have to believe that."

"Always the hero." Luca looked as Stef and behind his watery eyes Stef could see the absolute fear that he was trying to control. She rubbed his shoulder and nodded, trying to hide her own fear.

"Always the hero." Jude and Luca were looking at their watches and the TV at the same time, both of them trying to time how long it had been since Callie had last been able to take a breath. They were sneaking up on two minutes and everyone knew that even Callie had her limits. The camera shot was shaky for a moment, but then it quickly panned about 50 feet away from where Callie had entered the water and the family could finally see Callie's head struggling against the water as she gasped for air. Her proximity to the wreckage had her family worried about a secondary explosion or simply of Callie getting hurt on shrapnel. Stef studied the close up shot of her daughter who seemed to be fighting against the waves as she signaled her crew above her.

"What is she doing?" Lena stepped forward and tried to get a better look at the screen. What she was seeing was Callie crossing her arms in the shape of an "X" over and over again, mixed in with hand signals no one could understand. A split second later the family saw them lower the nest down to Callie's location and then once it hit the water, the whole screen went black. The new chopper tried to move to fix their shot, but they were being policed by other rescue teams and had express orders to stand down and not interfere anymore.

"What the hell is that, why did they kill the lights? She's not going to be able to see her hand in front of her face, forget finding someone in black water." Jesus asked a valid question, but the heartbreaking reality of the situation hit Luca first and then Stef.

"That's what she was signaling them. To shut off her light. She found him." Luca stood up from his seat and paced the living room, watching the screen that now only had a shot of the fire burning on top of the water.

"If she found him then won't she need light in order to see and help him into the aircraft?" Jesus asked the question, knowing that the answer probably was a bleak one.

"She'll get him in the aircraft, but she knew the news was there. She doesn't want his family to watch their son's body get pulled out of the water." Luca rubbed his hands over his face, getting nervous that he could not see his fiancé yet. About five minutes later the lights came back on and everyone took a breath as they saw Callie rigged in safety gear being pulled back up to the aircraft…the nest they had sent down earlier was nowhere to be seen. Luca watched Callie climbed the last few steps into her aircraft and the door shut quickly behind her. The news anchor didn't take the hint and continued to talk despite the fact that the coast guard was putting out the fire and her story effectively was over. The family listened to her talk for a few minutes before shutting off the TV and returning to their stunned silence.

Luca already had his phone in his hand and was calling Callie, even though he knew she wouldn't be anywhere her phone for a few hours at best. He left a few voicemails before he put his phone away and went about pacing the rest of the house, full of nervous energy. Once again, he knew that this was Callie's job, but Luca was fairly certain he had just witnessed his bride dive head first into the ocean to find a fallen comrade and that made his stomach twist and his heart hurt all at the same time. Stef finally found Luca leaning against the kitchen table and she patted his back before grabbing a bottle of whiskey and two glasses before tilting her head toward the front door and Luca followed. Lena stayed in the living room with the other kids, trying to handle that side of things, leaving Stef to help Luca.

Stef took a seat on the porch swing and handed Luca one of the glasses before pouring a drink for them both.

"She's ok. We know that much." Stef watched as Luca looked at his drink before taking it all in one gulp. "We know she's physically ok, sort of. We also know that five minute more would have meant she would've been in that water and that would've been her body being pulled from the depths of the ocean." Stef didn't expect the outburst and she certainly didn't expect to watch her soon to be son in law hurl the glass in his hand onto the stone walkway, watching it shatter.

"I never did like that glass." Luca sat back down and rested his head on his clenched fists.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

"You're full of adrenaline that is fading away, which means all that fear, anger and sadness is gonna come out. There isn't going to always be a glass to break son." Luca nodded his head and Stef waited for him to calm down before she tried to talk to him again.

"The what ifs will kill you Luca. I've had tours where I had just clocked out and someone got shot patrolling the same area I was just in. I know how it feels to be that person and Lena knows what it feels like to be the person that gets to put the person back together when they come home. Callie is gonna come home and this time is going to be different. It's going to stay with her, probably forever, and she is naturally going to turn to you to hold her up because she is going to be busy trying to hold up her surviving crew members."

"So what do I do?" Stef handed her glass to Luca. "You take one more drink, then we put the bottle away, because booze won't fix this. Then we talk about this until that car pulls up with her in the backseat. Then we figure it out after that: one step at a time." Luca took the glass and nodded his head.

For the next two hours Stef stayed on the front porch with Luca. No one bothering them from inside the house: Stef knew full well that Lena had kept them all inside to allow her to help Luca without interruptions. So they talked and cried and let out their feelings of frustrations until Luca seemed spent and he had finally settled into his seat on the porch swing. They stayed sitting there in silence until eventually, as predicted, a car came pulling up in front of the house.

Luca stood up from his seat, but waited for Callie to get out of the car. Will and Callie had a quick conversation before Will handed her her gear and offering her a quick hug. He waved to Luca and Stef before getting back in the car and heading home. When Callie finally looked up Luca could see that she looked pale and tired. They stood still for a while until Luca took the literal first steps towards Callie and when he was close enough to touch Callie all but collapsed into his arms and began to cry. Luca held Callie tighter than he ever remembered holding her and he just let her cry, knowing that there was absolutely nothing he could say in that moment to soothe the pain Callie was feeling.

Stef looked on from the front porch and before she went to her daughter she took one last swig of the whiskey while muttering to herself, "always the hero".

 **So I'm like 100% sure that none of this would ever happen, but hey its fiction so just let it be. Next chapter will be more about the rescue from Callie's perspective and I plan on picking it up right at this point. Let me know what you want to see.**


	13. Never Gets Any Easier

By the time Stef reached the spot where Callie and Luca were, she could see Callie's shoulders shaking as she cried into Luca's shirt. Callie took a gasping breath, the kind of breath you take when you are crying hard and forget that you have to breathe before you continue to cry. In that one moment she caught a glimpse of Stef and she stood up a little straighter, trying to brush her tears away, but try as she might Stef could see through the walls her daughter was trying to put up. Luca took the opportunity to grab Callie's bag and Stef reached out her hand to Callie, hoping that her daughter would take the offered support. Callie carefully placed her hand in her mother's and once again, the gentle touch seemed to overwhelm her and she quickly dissolved into tears, allowing Stef to pull her into a hug.

"It's ok baby. I got you." Luca took hesitant steps toward the house and Stef gently pulled Callie and began walking her toward the house. Once they reached the front door, Luca placed Callie's bag next to the door and stood by Stef, waiting to see where he could be useful. Callie pulled away from her mother and for the first time since she came home she took in her surroundings. Her siblings were in the living room and all of them seemed like they wanted to ask her the same question.

Callie held up her hand as if to stop all of them from even saying anything.

"I don't want to talk about it a lot tonight. I just want to take a shower and have a breather before I try processing everything. I appreciate your concern, truly, but right now, I just need everyone to kind of leave me alone." Callie walked upstairs, slowly taking her uniform off as she ascended the stairs. When the bathroom door shut Luca looked to Stef as if to ask what he was meant to do now.

"Honey, giver her ten minutes. Remember how you wanted to break something to feel better, to get all those feelings out, well, she needs the chance to do something similar."

"How do I help her if she wants to be left alone?"

Stef rubbed Luca's arm and smiled, "honey, she doesn't want to be left alone. She just doesn't want to fall apart in front of an audience. There is no right way to handle this, but the only wrong thing we can do is let her try and handle it on her own." Luca nodded, but seemed lost in thought.

"How about everyone head to bed and we can tackle this in the morning? Callie is home and is safe and for tonight…that is going to have be enough. We can smoother her with love in the morning when she feels a bit better." The twins and Jude went upstairs, but not without a fight, but deep down they knew their mother was right. That left Lena, Stef and Luca standing in the living room, unsure about who should do what.

"I'm going to go grab her some dry clothes." Lena went upstairs and Stef and Luca retired to the kitchen.

"What do I say to her? I'm sorry your friend died and you had to find him and bring him home? How the hell do I even bring up what happened without destroying her all over again?"

"Luca, honey, listen to me. Callie has lived a life full of things trying to destroy her and so far nothing has been able to. This will change her, but it will not and has not destroyed her. Just let her drive the conversation. You never forget the first person you lose doing this kind of work and I am sure her head is still trying to make sense of something that has no sense behind it." An uneasy silence settled over them in the kitchen that was only broken when Callie entered the kitchen dressed in an old pair of PJs she left at the house.

"You hungry babe?" Callie shook her head no, but took a seat next to Luca, leaning against his shoulder as she sat.

"My stomach is in knots."

"How about some tea?" Stef offered and Callie nodded. Stef made the tea and before she put the mug in front of Callie she added a splash of whiskey.

"Thanks for spiking my tea." Callie smiled for the first time since she got home and Stef smiled back at her.

"Don't tell mama." Stef put the liquor away and returned to the table, knowing that the silence is what Callie needed right then. Maybe ten minutes into this silent vigil Callie polished off her tea and start playing with the mug.

"I told his family."

"Isn't that someone else's job?" Callie nodded at her fiancé with a watery smile.

"His folks live in Australia, this was the only way to notify them. Someone else could've done it, but…I was there, I found him, he was my crewmember, under my command so I made the call. I…don't think I'll ever get the sound of his mother crying out of my head."

Callie pushed back tears and pressed on, "the explosion is what got him. He was still looking for that other pilot and if he hadn't been…if I had stayed in the water." Stef grabbed Callie's hands to steady them and to get her daughter's attention.

"If you had stayed in that water then it could've been you that did make it home alive Callie. Or maybe you would've. But listen my love, you cannot keep thinking about what should've happened or who should've been the one in danger. Your job is dangerous, you and your crew risk your life every day and things like this happen and honey, when they do, survivor's guilt is a very real thing."

"I'm not sorry that I lived, but I had been in that spot not 4 minutes earlier and if I hadn't moved…I know it was stupid, diving in after him, especially since it was dark and I had no line."

"I'm sure you had your reasons Callie, no one here is judging your choice to go in after him." Callie could read her mother's face that this topic had been a point of contention prior to her coming home.

"When we first got our drew assignments, we were pretty happy. Will and I knew each other because we worked so closely in training and the others were people we were friends with. So we all already had this connection and we made this promise to each other to never leave anyone behind. We all come home together or we don't come home at all." Callie looked straight ahead, not making eye contact with her mother and moving away slightly from Luca.

"I knew he was gone before I went in. I knew I wasn't going to be able to save his life, but I was not going to leave him there. I promised I was going to bring him home…so that's what I did. It was not the way I wanted him to come home, but I kept my word…he came home with us and we didn't leave him behind." Luca kissed the side of Callie's head and rubbed her back once again allowing her to sink into his embrace.

"You went above and beyond Callie. Now his family and friends will have closure and be able to properly say goodbye. You made good on your promise. Let that be the thing you focus on. That and the fact that you gave his family the peace of not watching him getting pulled from the water." Callie's face cringed when she thought about making them kill the lights she had on her in the water.

"That news reporter will be very sorry after the phone call she will be receiving from my commanding officer in the morning."

"I bet." Lena walked into the kitchen and took a seat next to Stef.

"You guys gonna stay here tonight or do you think you'll head home?" Luca turned to Callie for the answer.

"Your call babe."

Callie looked at her fiancée and both her mothers before turning back to Luca.

"I think I want to sleep my bed tonight, not on the couch or in my twin mattress upstairs. Let's go home." Luca nodded and went to go gather their things and Lena joined him, knowing that some of Callie's things would be left at the house because they needed to be stored there or cleaned. Stef walked over to the seat Luca had just left and took a seat next to her daughter.

"Does it ever get any easier?"

"No honey, it doesn't. And the day it does is the day you quit and go do something else. Cases involving shootings and death still upset me and I've been a cop for years. It doesn't get easier Callie, you just learn how to cope with the feelings it brings up. You learn how to take care of yourself. That part gets easier, but the death and the hurting…that will always break your heart a little bit. That's why not everyone does these jobs Callie." Callie nodded her head, knowing her mother had valid points, but she didn't know what else to say in that moment when she was still in a bit of shock.

"I love you."

"I love you too sweets."

"I know, but I wanted you to hear me say it. Cuz tonight I came really close to never being able to tell you that to your face again so I'm taking the opportunity now…I love you so much." Stef wrapped her arms around Callie and just let her be for a while.

"Mama and I love you Callie and we know you love us, but we never get tired of hearing it."

 **So kind of short, but I am anxious of writing my dissertation intro and it gets in the way of writing for fun, but I wanted to get this chapter up. I'm gonna focus on this for like one or two more chapters then move on, but the first death in Callie's career felt like something that needed attention.**


	14. We Have The Watch

The next week went by slowly with Callie spending most of her free time at her family's house. Even though her crew would not return to service until they were assigned a new crew member, Callie still had paperwork to finish from the accident and there was media coverage that needed to be handled. In the midst of all this Callie was also helping the young man's mother plan a military funeral for her son. Callie had experience planning funerals and Michael's mother seemed to get overwhelmed by the decisions that needed to be made. Callie made sure everything was in place for her friend and crew member to receive a proper funeral service and burial.

That weekend the whole family was getting ready for the funeral and waiting for Callie and Luca to arrive before they headed to the church. Jude sat in the kitchen, pushing his breakfast around while Lena seemed lost in thoughts as she looked out the window. Their silence was broken when the twins came in to grab something to eat before they left. Brandon had offered to come home, but Callie insisted that she was ok and he should stay and work, all the while hoping that her brother's career would eventually bring him home like her's had.

"Is Callie gonna speak at the funeral?" Jesus questioned while munching on a bagel, trying not to get it on his tux.

Lena nodded, "Michael's mother wanted someone from the team to speak and she asked Callie since she commands the group and was the one to bring him home. Hopefully your sister got some sleep last night or it'll be that much harder for her to get through talking about him." Everyone nodded and fell back into an uneasy silence and that was how Stef found them when she finally came downstairs, dressed in her formal dress uniform.

"Callie and Luca here yet?" Jude held up his phone, "Callie just texted that they are almost here." Stef nodded and forced herself to drink coffee and eat a piece of fruit before they had to leave the house. Lena always admired Stef when she wore her dress uniform, but sadly it usually meant a funeral instead of some celebration like a promotion ceremony. Lena didn't have time to dwell on her sadness since the front door opened seconds later. Luca walked in the kitchen looking very handsome in his suit and his face told Stef that he was holding himself together for Callie's sake in the hopes of being her support system on this terrible day. Callie was two steps behind him and when she stepped into the kitchen everyone was in a little bit of shock: they hadn't seen Callie in her dress uniform before. Her graduations had her in her regular uniform and when she worked she was in a jumpsuit covering a wetsuit, so this look was new and a little startling for everyone.

Callie noticed that she was the center of attention and she shrugged her shoulders.

"I clean up pretty good I think." Stef offered her oldest daughter a sad smile, knowing how awkward Callie felt.

"You look very sharp sweets, I wish you were wearing your dress uniform under better circumstances, but it suits you." Now that Stef was standing next to Callie, Lena finally got a look at the two of them in their dress uniforms and the image made Lena feel a swell of pride and sadness all at once.

Callie broke the silence by pointing to the door. "We should probably get going, we don't want to be late." Everyone piled into the two cars and drove in silence to the church that was packed from the looks of the parking lot. Callie got out of the car and took stock of the situation. The hearse was already there and she could see Michael's parents standing near it and her crew standing a few feet away. Callie caught the attention of Michael's mother who quickly walked over to Callie and the rest of the Foster family.

"Thank you again Callie. Everything is just beautiful and…I couldn't have done it without you. Michael would've been touched you did all this to remember him."

"He was a good sailor Mrs. Brumby and an even better friend. He deserves to be honored and we will make sure that today his memory is upheld with a service fit for the kind of man he was." Callie offered the older woman a sad smile while still holding her hands gently. Callie looked over her shoulder at her family and she turned to introduce them.

"Mrs. Brumby, these are my mothers, Stef and Lena, two of my brothers Jesus and Jude and my sister Mariana. Luca you remember from the few times we've gotten together this week." Stef stepped forward first and removed her hat before shaking the grieving mother's hand.

"Stef Foster, I am so sorry we had to meet like this. Callie spoke very highly of you son. You have my whole family's deepest sympathy. If we can help in any way, please don't hesitate to ask."

Mrs. Brumby smiled with tears still in her eyes as she let go of Stef's hand. "You are very kind Mrs. Foster and your whole family showing up for this was not necessary, but now I can see where Callie gets her caring nature from. You and your wife must be very proud. Callie pretty much planned everything here today, I wouldn't have been able to do this without her. My husband and I are forever indebted to her for her kindness."

"You don't owe me anything Mrs. Brumby. I was glad to help and Mike was part of my team and therefore part of my family and I wouldn't settle for anything less than a hero's funeral for a man who lost his life fighting to save someone else's." Michael's mother smiled again, this time letting a few tears fall before brushing them away.

"We should started, if you'll excuse us." Callie kissed Luca quickly before walking towards the church with Michael's mother. The rest of the family found their way inside and took seats a few rows back, behind the rows of military personnel and the small group of Michael's family that still lived near by. Soon the chatter in the church was silenced by the organ playing the beginning chords of Amazing Grace. At the end of the aisle Stef could see Callie and Will at the head of the casket and she watched with a heavy heart as Callie and the rest of her crew, along with two other honor guard members, picked up the casket and began to carry it down the aisle. Normally this task would have been completed by the honor guard alone, but the family had requested that Callie and the other crew members carry the casket into the church, claiming that it is what Michael would've wanted. Michael's parents walked behind the casket and when they reached the front of the church they took their seat in the front pew while Callie joined her family.

A few family members read from the Bible and Michael's father got up and somehow made it through a beautiful eulogy where he talked about his son in glowing terms. Before he sat down he introduced Callie.

"My wife and I would like to introduce our son's crew leader Callie Foster who was kind enough to agree to speak about Michael and the kind of sailor he was." When Michael's father sat down, Callie stood up and made her way to the front of the church and fumbled with a piece of paper.

"Mike and I met when we were in the same training class and he was always one step ahead of me when I came to certain skill sets. Even when he beat my time or won a challenge placed before us in training, he never bragged or made himself out to be a big shot. He was humble and kind and wanted nothing more than to build other people up so that they too could be great. I knew Mike's family lived far away and I knew how it felt to miss the comforts of family so we built a friendship on the understanding that we loved our families fiercely, even though they were far from our touch."

"Today, it is Michael who is far from our touch and it still seems like this is a nightmare that we are all going to wake up from, but its not. It's the moment every military family dreads and it's the moment every commanding officer hopes they never see. I never wanted to think that anyone on my team could be lost and I hoped that the team I started my career with would be the team I had until I retired and today I am sad beyond belief that that dream will only ever be just that: a dream. The day he died, Mike had entered the water, hoping to find a lost pilot and he was so determined to do his job and find this man we all prayed we would find unharmed. He braved black, icy waters, trying to save a stranger: trying to save someone else's son. In his heroics he lost his life and that sacrifice will never be forgotten by anyone who was there that day, or by anyone who is here today."

"I ask all of you to remember Mike the way we remember him: a smile on his face, a heart full of love for his friends and loved ones and a passion for life so profound he was willing to sacrifice his life so that someone else could continue their's. Our motto is "so that others may live" and Mike embodied that motto everyday we flew, every mission we ever went on. Yes, Mike is far from our touch now and the pain we feel will take time to soften, but when it does I hope to remember Mike the way I encourage all of you to. He was a hero. He was a hero before he ever entered that water and every moment after that he was a hero to me and I stand here today to share with all of you, that I was proud of lead Mike, but I was even more proud to call him my friend. "Today we are here to say, 'Shipmate... the watch stands relieved. Relieved by those You have trained ,guided, and led. Shipmate you stand relieved.. we have the watch...". We have the watch Mike, you can rest now."

Callie tucked the paper into her pocket and before she returned to her seat she paused at the casket and placed her hand on the flag draped across the wood. Callie said nothing, but she hoped that wherever Mike was, he could feel at peace and feel just how loved he was in this life. Callie returned to her seat, noticing that her whole family was in tears, crying for a man they had only ever heard stories about. The funeral ended sometime after Callie spoke and they all headed to the cemetery. This time the honor guard took charge of carrying Michael's casket to the grave site, leaving his crewmates to stand by and watch as their friend was brought to his final resting place. After the priest said a few more words the firing squad was signaled and they fired their shots into the air the appropriate number of times and when silence fell it was soon replaced by the sound of TAPS being played. The flag was folded, saluted and then gently handed to Michael's mother who by that point was inconsolable. As they lowered Michael's casket into the ground Callie, Stef and all other military and paramilitary members offered a salute to the fallen sailor one final time. It took everything Callie had to leave the gravesite and join the rest of the crew as they headed for the car where Mike's parents had set up a gathering for everyone to eat and drink and just remember their son in a positive way.

Callie found herself smiling and even laughing at Mike's father's stories of Mike growing up and she found herself sharing stories from their training days that made everyone smile for the first time all day. About an hour into this party, Will tapped his beer bottle with a knife, calling for everyone's attention.

"Excuse me folks. I won't take up much time because unlike Callie, I do not have a way with words. But one thing I will always remember about Mike is how he always was humming this tune. Every mission we went on, all through training, all the time humming this tune. I finally asked him what the song was and when he told me I took the time to listen to the song and I even learned it, sang it with him a few times when we were stuck on long training days. With that in mind I would like to sing it now, with everyone's help since I can't sing well, but for Mike I'd sure be willing to try."

Callie and Will met each other's gaze and smiled before Will started singing.

 **Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong** **  
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,** **  
He sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled** **  
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me**

Callie jumped in and so did the rest of the crew.

 **Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda** **  
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me** **  
He sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled,  
you'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me.**

Soon anyone who had ever heard the song joined in and it seemed a fitting tribute to their dearly departed friend.

 **Down came a jumbuck to drink at the billabong,** **  
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,  
he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,  
you'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me**

 **Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda  
you'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me  
he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag, ****  
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me**

Stef had heard the song on TV once or twice so she joined in along with Jude who somehow knew it and the rest of the family watched in amazement at how this one song seemed to be bringing everyone some level of peace in this tragic time.

 **Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,** **  
Up rode the troopers, one, two, three,** **  
With the jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?  
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me.**

 **Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda** **  
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me** **  
With the jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?  
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, you scoundrel with me.**

 **Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,** **  
You'll never catch me alive, said he,** **  
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,  
you'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me.**

 **Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda** **  
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me  
** **his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,** **  
You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me.** **  
Oh, you'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me.**

 **So as per usual, this would not have happened like this and I stole that last scene from JAG because I LOVE that song. Got the family name from JAG too since it was the only Australian name I could think of. For reference Mike was born in the states, but his family moved to Australia when he was young and he grew up there for much of his life before returning to the US. Hope you like the chapter even though it was a bit sad. Next one will move on into other things so suggestions are appreciated.**


	15. Still My Hero

**So sorry for the delay folks. My dissertation has taken up much of my time and my depression takes up the rest of it. Thanks to everyone who is hanging in there with me. I'll try and make this chapter a bit longer.**

After things settled down for Callie, things returned to their version of normal. Jude was nearing the end of his senior year and that meant he was gearing up for his senior showcase and much like his older siblings, Jude kept his plans secret from the rest of the family…even Callie didn't know what her baby brother had planned. The night before the showcase, Jude was in the garage organizing his things for the following day and practicing out of ear shot of his family. Inside Callie and Mariana sat in the living room working on wedding designs while Lena and Stef finished putting dinner together.

"If you can pick between these two I can start pricing fabric and I can tell you how much it's gonna cost to make." Callie nodded and kept looking between the two drawings.

"Just don't forget to include paying yourself in the price you give me."

"Come on Callie, you're my only sister and this is your wedding. Do you really expect me to charge you for my work?"

"I do and you will. It's only fair Mariana. Just treat me like any other client." Mariana took the drawings from her sister and put them safely back in her portfolio.

"We can make a final decision this weekend, but when we do, you will have to make peace with the fact that this is my gift to you and I will not be charging you for my work. Just pay me for the material and I'll take care of the rest." Callie opened her mouth to argue her point, but Lena called them to the table. As they gathered around the table they were soon joined by Jude, Jesus and eventually Luca who came in just as food was being put on the table.

"Sorry I'm late guys, I had to finish something at the office before I left for the day.". Luca offered Callie a quick kiss before taking his seat, glancing over at Jude.

"You all ready for tomorrow buddy?". Jude nodded his head as he tried to chew the rather large bite of food he had just shoved into his mouth.

"I swear I raised you guys better than that, take smaller bites love.". Stef laughed at her son acting a lot like his brother at the dinner table.

Jude swallowed his food and looked at Luca. "Sorry. Yeah I'm all set and I finally have all the music and stuff together. Should be a good show."

"I'm sure it'll be great."

"Yeah, well it better be, I have a family legacy to stand up to." Callie stopped mid-bite to look at her brother.

"Hey, just because Brandon and I did this does not mean you have to stand up to what we did.. Just like at your audition…just do your thing and it'll be brilliant. Brandon and I don't want you to feel like you have to compare yourself to us buddy. You have your own gift to offer up tomorrow and that's what people wanna see."

"That and they want to watch one more Foster family beat down of the dragon lady.". Jesus added only to have his twin flick his ear with her finger.

"Ouch, that hurt. It's true.. Just is the last one she ever has to worry about and I think she's more scared of him than she was of Callie."

"She should be." Jude offered his biting remark as he took another bite of food and Callie looked at her brother in a bit of shock.

"That chip on your shoulder is gonna weigh you down baby brother. Do this for you…not for her or to spite her…for you.". Jude shrugged at his sister's words and Callie knew better than to push him when he got like this. A part of him still wanted to defend his family, Callie most of all and this was his moment to showcase his family and his talent in a way that his principal would have to take notice of.

The next day went by like normal, but Callie had made sure to take her team out of the rotation for the night. So unless a massive emergency happened she was free to enjoy the time with her family and really enjoy her brother's performance. She and Luca pulled into a parking spot about 20 minutes before the show was set to begin. This time Callie left her uniform at home and chose instead to wear a normal black dress…tonight was not about scaring her former principal, it was about her brother. They made their way through their old school and began to search for their family when they got into the auditorium. Jude had, once again, reserved the front row for his family and Stef was already sitting with the twins when Callie and Luca arrived.

"I see you left your uniform at home this time." Stef kissed her daughter and smiled as she took her seat.

"I can be plenty intimidating in a little black dress and I bet you a nickel that she knows that. So no need for the big guns…not tonight anyway. This is about him and his accomplishments." Stef was about to respond when Lena showed up, followed closely by her boss who took her seat that Jude had also reserved.

"Evening Stef, this has to be a bitter sweet moment for you all, your baby doing his senior showcase?"

"Jude has worked so hard for this all year and he's overcome so much that Lena and I are just proud to be here to watch him perform. As for him being our last one to grace that stage, well, my kids have a good track record for making that stage come alive so I think it is most definitely his turn to enjoy the spotlight. So not so much bittersweet as it is a very proud moment." Sanchez nodded and was almost afraid to look at Callie…scratch that, she was afraid to look at Callie.

"Excited to see your brother perform Ms. Foster?"

"I have no doubt he'll put Brandon and I to shame with his performance. Like my mother said, he's overcome a lot of things to get here, not the least of which has been you." Callie spoke the last word through gritted teeth and Luca was fast to put his hand on Callie's knee which made her remember where they were and why they were there.

"I've known he was a special kid since the minute his was born and I've loved him ever since that moment so, yes, ma'am, I am very excited to see him perform." Stef and Lena took a deep breath, thankful that Callie had backed down from the possible fight she desperately wanted to start. The conversation ended at exactly the right time since the house lights went off and the music teacher came onstage to introduce the first performer. Jude would be doing his set second so the family sat through his classmate's presentation as they patiently waited for Jude's turn.

After a brief intermission, the family settled in for Jude's showcase, all of the anxious to see what he had put together. Callie had read the program and saw that Jude had very clearly dedicated the performance to "my loving sister who walked with me whenever one else fell away". Callie had prepared herself for maybe a song about her journey with Jude, but she didn't count on him making the whole thing about their relationship and their life together up to this point.. She didn't have much time to dwell on her thoughts because the curtain rose to reveal her brother standing at the mic. The audiovisual people cued up the video and the band began to play a song that Callie didn't expect to hear. It was a modern song from a soundtrack, and it focused more on romantic love than anything else, but Callie knew if you looked at it right, it could be about any type of close relationship so she sat back and let herself be entertained by her brother's work.

 **I was the one who had it all  
I was the master of my fate  
I never needed anybody in my life  
I learned the truth too late**

Behind Jude played videos from the DVD's Callie had gifted Stef and Lena years earlier. Videos of Jude and Callie with their mother.

 **I'll never shake away the pain  
I close my eyes but she's still there  
I let her steal into my melancholy heart  
It's more than I can bear**

As Jude pushed on the scenes changed to videos that were clearly taken toward the end of their mother's life since Jude was a little bigger in those videos. This was also mixed in with pictures of their mother's grave and funeral to punctuate the lyrics.

 **Now I know she'll never leave me  
Even as she runs away  
She will still torment me  
Calm me, hurt me  
Move me, come what may  
Wasting in my lonely tower  
Waiting by an open door  
I'll fool myself, she'll walk right in  
And be with me for evermore**

 **I rage against the trials of love  
I curse the fating of the light  
Though she's already flown so far beyond my reach  
She's never out of sight**

These scenes showed Callie during her training and in one clip it showed her getting into the helicopter and flying off screen, something that once again highlighted the lyrics.

 **Now I know she'll never leave me  
Even as she fades from view**

As he sang the line, footage from the first scene Callie was ever at that was televised played and you saw her dive into the water, effectively fading from view.

 **She will still inspire me  
Be a part of everything I do  
Wasting in my lonely tower  
Waiting by an open door**

 **I'll fool myself, she'll walk right in  
And as the long, long nights begin  
I'll think of all that might have been  
Waiting here for evermore**

Jude held the note out longer than he needed to and by the time he let himself breathe and allowed the song to end, people had already begun clapping like mad. Callie perhaps being the loudest among them. Jude gave a slight bow to the audience and was purposefully avoiding eye contact with his sister because he was just barely holding it together. He removed his suit jacket and tossed it off stage as he set up for the next song. Whatever it was, the stage looked striped down and only some musicians stayed on stage while the rest of them went off stage.

Jude pulled the microphone closer to him and as the music began, Callie was a little surprised with her brother song choice.

 **Hello darkness, my old friend  
I've come to talk with you again  
Because a vision softly creeping  
Left its seeds while I was sleeping  
And the vision that was planted in my brain  
Still remains  
Within the sound of silence**

 **In restless dreams I walked alone  
Narrow streets of cobblestone  
'Neath the halo of a street lamp  
I turned my collar to the cold and damp  
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light  
That split the night  
And touched the sound of silence**

Even though the room was dark up to that point, all of a sudden lights were slowly circling around the room, courtesy of the AV team.

 **And in the naked light I saw  
Ten thousand people, maybe more  
People talking without speaking  
People hearing without listening  
People writing songs that voices never share  
And no one dared  
Disturb the sound of silence**

 **Fools, said I, you do not know  
Silence like a cancer grows  
Hear my words that I might teach you  
Take my arms that I might reach you  
But my words, like silent raindrops fell  
And echoed in the wells of silence**

Callie and the rest of the family watched in amazement as Jude expressed emotions through the song they never thought they would see from him. His face was dead serious as he belted out the last verse in a key Callie didn't even know Jude could hit.

 **And the people bowed and prayed  
To the neon god they made  
And the sign flashed out its warning  
In the words that it was forming  
And the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls  
And tenement halls  
And whispered in the sounds of silence**

The piano played out the remainder of the song and when the music faded away, once again Jude was met with a thunderous applause. This time he stole a glance at his sister and Callie's face said a lot. Beaming ear to ear with pride, while tears rolled down her face. Callie knew that some of these songs were about Jude and her and their life together, while others were about Callie's perspective of things because Jude felt his sister deserved to be given that respect in whatever form he could give it to her. As the stage was transitioned for the next song, a stage manager came out and handed Jude an electric guitar that the young man quickly threw over his shoulder, tuning it quickly. When the stage was quiet again, Jude played the rest of the band in with his guitar.

 **I remember when**

 **We used to laugh**

 **About nothing at all**

 **It was better than going mad**

 **From trying to solve all the problems we're going through**

 **Forget 'em all**

 **Cause on those nights we would stand and never fall**

 **Together we faced it all**

 **Remember when we'd**

 **Stay up late and we'd talk all night**

 **In a dark room lit by the TV light**

 **Through all the hard times in my life**

 **Those nights kept me alive**

 **We'd listen to the radio play all night**

 **Didn't want to go home to another fight**

 **Through all the hard times in my life**

 **Those nights kept me alive**

Callie watched her brother play the instrument in his arms with a renewed sense of passion and the look on his face was a mix of emotions that Callie could feel from her seat. She was all too aware of those nights that Jude sang about. Of course, she had never heard Jude talk much about them and she hoped he had put them behind him somehow…now she could see that was not the case.

 **I remember when**

 **We used to drive**

 **Anywhere but here**

 **As long as we'd forget our lives**

 **We were so young and confused that we didn't know**

 **To laugh or cry**

 **Those nights were ours**

 **They will live and never die**

 **Together we'd stand forever**

 **Remember when we'd**

Jude pointed at his sister and locked eyes with her: tears streaming down his face and even in the dark he could see Callie trying to control the steady flow of tears that ran down her face.

 **Stay up late and we'd talk all night**

 **In a dark room lit by the TV light**

 **Through all the hard times in my life**

 **Those nights kept me alive**

 **We'd listen to the radio play all night**

 **Didn't want to go home to another fight**

 **Through all the hard times in my life**

 **Those nights kept me alive**

 **Those nights belong to us**

 **There's nothing wrong with us**

 **I remember when**

 **We used to laugh**

 **And now I wish those nights would last**

The instrumental break allowed Jude to show off his skills on the guitar before going through the chorus once more. During this time he nodded quickly to the bass player who disappeared for a moment and appeared on stage with a bouquet of flowers in his arms and with another nod of Jude's head, the young man made his way down the steps of the stage and over to Callie. He gently handed the mix of red and pink roses to Callie who took them with shaking hands and by this point she was beyond being able to hold the tears in.

 **Stay up late and we'd talk all night**

 **In a dark room lit by the TV light**

 **Through all the hard times in my life**

 **Those nights kept me alive**

 **We'd listen to the radio play all night**

 **Didn't want to go home to another fight**

 **Through all the hard times in my life**

 **Those nights kept me alive**

 **Those night belong to us**

 **There is nothing wrong.**

The last note died on the guitar and once again Jude was met with thunderous applause from his audience and a standing ovation from his family. Callie cradled the flowers in her arms and made eyes contact with her brother, mouthing 'thank you' to him, to which he shook his head and mouthed back 'thank you'. For his last song, Jude put the guitar down on its stand and the band that had been backing him was replaced with a small group of strong instruments. He took a deep breath before giving the string the cue to play him in and when they did everyone settled back into an easy silence, reading themselves for the finale. Callie had a handful of tissues in her hand, not that they were helping much as she watched her baby brother step up to the mic.

 **You walked with me  
Footprints in the sand  
And helped me understand  
Where I'm going**

 **You walked with me  
When I was all alone  
With so much unknown  
Along the way**

 **Then I heard you say**

 **I promise you  
I'm always there  
When your heart is filled with sorrow and despair  
I'll carry you  
When you need a friend  
You'll find my footprints in the sand**

 **I see my life  
Flash across the sky  
So many times have I been so afraid**

 **And just when I  
I thought I'd lost my way  
You gave me strength to carry on**

 **That's when I heard you say**

 **I promise you  
I'm always there  
When your heart is filled with sorrow and despair  
And I'll carry you  
When you need a friend  
You'll find my footprints in the sand**

 **When I'm weary  
Well I know you'll be there  
And I can feel you  
When you say**

 **I promise you  
Oh, I'm always there  
When your heart is filled with sadness and despair  
I'll carry you  
When you need a friend  
You'll find my footprints in the sand**

Jude looked at Callie, seeing her shoulders shake slightly from crying and that mixed with the song made the dam burst for him and tears began to flow freely from his own eyes as he finished the song.

 **When your heart is full of sadness and despair  
I'll carry you  
When you need a friend  
You'll find my footprints in the sand**

The music played out and this time the entire room was on their feet, applauding the perforce they all had just witnessed. Stef and Lena were emotionally drained to put it mildly after watching Jude take them on that journey that he meant to be about him and Callie and when they looked over to see how their daughter was fairing they saw her clapping feverishly, but she was also leaning into her fiancé for support and comfort as she was quite obviously still crying. The lights eventually came on and Callie was snapped back into reality and she became hyperaware of the fact that she likely cried off most of her make up. Mariana pulled her aside, armed with make-up wipes and helped her retouch her foundation, but her red rimmed eyes betrayed the fact that she had been crying. The family didn't have to wait long for Jude to come out from backstage and Callie and Sanchez both took steps towards the boy, but Luca took notice and stood between the siblings and his former principal.

"Don't even think about it."

"I just want to offer my congratulations Mr. Russo: I'm not going to hurt them." Luca took another step to the side, again blocking her path.

"You can wait until they have their moment. You of all people can wait. You will wait." Luca was never usually this forward with his anger, but he knew what Callie and Jude had gone through because of their principal and he was not about to have her interrupt their moment after Jude's performance. Luca looked over his shoulder and watched as Jude quickly wrapped his sister up in a tight hug that turned into the two of them crying as they held onto each other. Luca went over to stand behind Callie if she needed him and Stef took his place next to Karin.

"Well?" Stef stood in front of the woman with her arms crossed and Lena prayed that this would end somewhat peacefully.

"He is very talented Stef. Just like his big sister. A very moving performance."

"It was a very moving performance that honored the woman you spent so many years trying to break. You made a powerful mistake messing with my family Karin, but you made a lifelong mistake by messing with my eldest daughter because better people than you have tried their hand at destroying her and she has risen above it always. Now her baby brother has done the same thing. He met your demands and exceeded your expectations and now it's over. I've got no more kids for you to have a problem with so as far as I'm concerned after graduation you can stay the hell away from my family." Lena put a calming hand on Stef's shoulder as if to remind her that Lena would still have to deal with the woman so maybe don't burn every bridge. Stef took a deep breath and sighed before turning to walk away.

"Goodnight Karin." Lena didn't stick around to hear her boss try to defend herself to Stef and instead she turned away too and watched patiently as Jude was still wrapped up in a death grip hug with Callie.

Callie eventually pulled back and took a good look at her brother before kissing his cheek.

"That was…really lovely and it was far more credit than I deserve."

"If anything it wasn't enough Callie. I know who raised me, who got me here, to this family, our family. I have a lot to thank moms for, but I'd have none of it if not for you. You're just as much of my hero today as you were that day when we were being adopted. You deserved to be held up and honored. You've held me up my whole life, tonight I just returned the favor…at least I hope I did.". Callie kissed her brother's cheek again and held his head in her hands.

"You are such an amazing young man, you know that right. You did that, not me…but the flowers were a nice touch.". Callie laughed through more tears and Jude kissed the top of his sister's forehead before releasing her from the hug. Callie stepped back and let her mothers get hugs from Jude and allowed the twins to crowd their brother. After gathering her flowers she looked at them for a while before she happened to look up and lock eyes with Karin. Callie realized that part of her might always be hurt by what Karin did and she would be forever pissed at her on Jude's behalf, but she also realized that tonight she had nothing left to say to the woman. She nodded to her former principal before turning and taking Luca's hand and walking away. Karin didn't know much in that moment, but she knew that whatever war she had started with Callie all those years earlier was over…and Callie was walking away the victor.

 **So, again, really sorry for the wait, but school comes first before me having a life sadly. My depression tends to rob me of my free time so thank you to anyone still with me in this. The songs in this chapter were Evermore from the Beauty and the Beast soundtrack, Sound of Silence by Disturbed, Those Nights by Skillet and Footsteps in the Sand by Leona Lewis.**


	16. Love, Mom

**Sorry for the wait you guys. My best friend got married and then I had to travel back to the Midwest so things have been nuts.**

It was late at night the night before Jude's graduation and the young boy, or young man rather, could not seem to get any sleep no matter how hard he tried to relax. Callie had been called into work earlier that day, but made it home by the time the rest of the family was done with dinner, so he knew she would be there, like she always was. She and Luca had opted to stay the night at her home so they could all be together the next morning. He wasn't sure what was keeping him awake, but he eventually gave up on his quest for sleep, grabbed something from under his bed and went downstairs. He sat at the island in the kitchen and looking at the envelope in his hands. He was brought back into reality when he felt a hand on his shoulder and soon Luca was taking a seat next to him.

"You couldn't sleep either?" Luca nodded his head, "that couch is not the most comfortable thing in the world to sleep on, but it's worth it to be near everyone before your big day. Which begs the question, why aren't you asleep?"

Jude shrugged his shoulders, "don't know, nerves I guess and this." Jude handed Luca the envelope and Luca took a shot in the dark and assumed it was the letter that Jude's mother had written for him to read before his graduation. He knew that Callie had received a similar letter and how it affected her.

"Want me to go so you can read it alone buddy?" Jude thought about it and shook his head no.

"You can stay." Luca nodded and moved around the kitchen making something for the two of them to drink. Coffee would have made their insomnia worse so he settled for hot chocolate. After he put the mugs down he nodded to Jude who open the letter and cleared his throat before he read.

"Jude,

I know that by now these letter must seem like a cruel reminder of what you and your sister have lost, but it was the best plan I had to give you pieces of myself even after I was gone. I hope that you are enjoying this time and taking moments to realize how much you have accomplished in your young life. I hope that you have found things that you are passionate about, things that make you happy and things that make you want to change the world. I knew when you were born that you were special, different in a way that your sister wasn't. Callie was always stubborn and willful, even as a baby, but you were always my sweet, calm boy, always interested in the world around you. Keep being fascinated by the world, even if it gets dark and disappoints you. I know all too well that this world can be mean, especially to people who see beauty in everything, but please don't let this world rob you of the passion you have for life and the love you have for everyone you meet. If bad things happened to you before this moment, please know that I am sorry for not being there to protect you, but I'd be willing to bet your sister was there in my absence and that she had a hand in getting you where you are right now. Forgive her for things she may not have done perfectly and know she was tasked with raising a baby when she was a baby herself. You both were dealt an unfair hand and I have every confidence that you turned that hand into something beautiful. I don't know what you plan on doing after graduation, but I know in my heart that you will do something someday that will change the world and will have far reaching effects on people who need help. Give yourself permission to be sad today and miss me if you need to, but don't do it for too long. Go celebrate with your family and friends, eat too much sugar, laugh at jokes even if they aren't funny, just celebrate yourself in whatever you do. And, if during that celebration you find yourself missing me, remember these letters, remember these words and go find your sister and hug her. You two are the best parts of me that are walking this earth right now and a hug from her is the best I can offer you in the place of a hug from me. I don't know what else to say to you that can convey the love and advice I want you to have, so I'm going to steal a line from a movie and hope it rings as true for you now as it did when I first heard it. 'Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something is more important than fear. The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all. From now on, you'll be traveling to road between who you think you are and who you can be. The key is to allow yourself to make the journey.' Never let fear drive your life, but don't put yourself in danger by ignoring signs when something just isn't right. Listen to your heart, listen to your gut and every now and then listen to your sister. Congratulations my sweet boy on your graduation and know that no matter where I am, I miss you dearly. Love, Mom."

Jude put the letter down on the table and just sort of looked at it and Luca watched and waited for the right time to say something.

"You ok buddy?"

"It's not fair. I know you know that better than anybody, but it's just not fair. She should be here. My graduation and Callie getting married, she deserved to see it, instead we have letters to hold onto." Jude pushed the letter away from him, clearly hurting, but it came out as anger.

"Buddy I know it isn't fair. Losing someone like your mom makes the world a little less bright and there is no fixing that. I wish I could bring her back, I wish I could bring my dad back, but I can't do either of those things Jude and neither can you. We have to find ways to live our lives and remember them without letting their memories keep us from actually living."

"Sometimes it feels weird, being happy when she isn't around. I feel like I'm betraying her somehow."

"I know that feeling, but I've also read those letters your mom wrote Callie and I know for a fact that she wanted you guys to find a family, find people to love and celebrate life with. She doesn't feel forgotten Jude, I promise you that. As long as you and Callie carry her in your hearts she will never be far away and never be forgotten. You aren't betraying her, you are living her dream for you by loving people and letting them love you."

Jude nodded and sighed, "you're right. I think I'm gonna go watch one of those movies Callie gave moms. You coming?" Luca followed Jude into the living room and they put in one of the DVDs and watched it until they finally fell asleep and that is how Callie found them the next morning when she woke up. She found the letter in the kitchen and tucked it back into her brother's drawer under his bed and with a heavy heart she went about getting ready for her baby brother's graduation.

 **Little heavy I know, but I did this kind of chapter for Callie so I wanted to do it for Jude. Part of me wants to skip over the actual graduation and go back to family stuff an wedding plans. Let me know what you guys wanna see plot wise and I will see what I can do.**


	17. Share The Burden

**So some of you asked for a chapter or a few chapters where Callie gets more seriously injured. Others wanted wedding stuff. What are other people's thoughts on that? I wanted to get this chapter out there because the song I heard inspired me to throw this wrench into things for our heroes, but hopefully you all like it.**

Towards the end of dinner the noises of empty plates being stacked was broken by the house phone ringing. Stef abandoned the dishes on the counter and went to answer the phone.

"Foster residence."

"Stef. It's Mike. I tried your cell, but figured you had it off for dinner so I called the house."

"We just finished dinner, what's wrong? Normally you just wait for me to call you back."

"A buddy of mine at the prison called me not long ago and he kind of broke the rules by telling me, but he figured that I could pass the message along to you."

"Pass what message along Mike? Stop talking in riddles."

"Liam is dead." Stef didn't quite trust that she heard Mike correctly and her silence was evidence of that.

"Stef? You still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here. What…what happened?"

"I don't have the details, but my best guess is that he messed with the wrong person or they found out what he was charged with and there is still an honor codes among thieves and rape, especially that of a child is a death penalty offense for guys who are locked up. I just figured you want to hear it first, maybe give Callie a heads up."

"I think she's on base tonight working, but I'll call and see if she can come over here. She should hear it from us, not the news or the papers. Thanks for the info Mike."

"Of course. Look Stef, I know this might set Callie off and I'm really sorry. If anybody deserves some peace it's her. Let me know if I can help."

"Thanks Mike. I'll check in with you later." Stef hung up the phone and when she turned back to the table only Lena was left.

"What did Mike have to say?"

"He got tipped off by one of his buddies who is a CO that Liam died in prison sometime earlier today. They must've already told his family or Mike's friend wouldn't have had the info to share." Lena cringed at the news. Not that there was any part of her that mourned the loss, but she knew that this news would likely tear Callie up for a while, even though she had managed to put that part of her life behind her for the most part.

"So, what do we do? Who is gonna tell her?" Stef leaned on the counter and thought about her wife's questions: no one wanted to break this news to Callie, but someone had to do it.

"Maybe we should let Luca do it?"

"That's a big task to throw at him to handle Stef. You and I both know she's gonna get mad before she lets herself be hurt or sad and she's bound to take it out on the person standing closest to her. Can we really ask him to be that person?"

"Lena, he is marrying her, let's face it honey, he is that person. Besides this impacts their life together and he should know, then we can help him find a way to tell her." Lena nodded, knowing Stef was right and she watched as Stef reached for her cell and called Luca. The conversation was brief and Stef eventually returned to take a seat next to Lena.

"He's just now leaving the office, a meeting ran late. He said she is out on a training exercise, but will be back tonight and he will leave her a message saying that she should meet him here. And he is on his way over as we speak."

"How'd he sound when you told him?"

"Like he knows that this could get ugly and a little mad, probably because he knows the justice she got was short lived." Both women made themselves busy doing the dishes and just as they finished, they heard the front door open and close and soon Luca was standing in the kitchen.

"I left her a message to meet me here. They should be heading back to the base now so I'm not sure when exactly she'll be home. Maybe by the time she gets here I'll figure out what to tell her."

"Honey, I think this time we might just have to stick with being direct and telling her the straight up truth. It's gonna hurt to hear and her response may be messy, but she has to hear it from us. She has to be given the chance to let her feelings out." Luca sighed and undid his tie before heling himself to a beer from the fridge. He spent the next two hours running over ideas in his head about how to approach the topic and tell Callie this news, but he kept coming back to Stef's point about being direct and honest. After that he didn't have much more time to think because he got a text from Callie saying she was on her way to her mothers' house and would be there shortly.

"I'm going to go wait for her on the porch." Stef and Lena both nodded and watched as Luca went out to sit on the front porch. After finishing his beer, Luca peeled off the label and that distracted him just long enough for Callie to pull up to the front of the house and exit her car. Her hair was wet and she was still in her uniform, but she seemed to not suspect that anything was wrong as she approached the house.

"Hey baby. Sorry I'm later than I thought, we didn't leave the training site until late and I for one am freezing even though its 80 degrees out here. I think I'm gonna go shower. Did moms save me something to eat cuz I'm starving." Callie offered Luca a kiss and started to walk towards the door when Luca called her back to him.

"Callie, wait. There is something we need to talk about before you head inside." Callie became a bit more alarmed at the tone of her fiancée's voice.

"What's wrong? Is my family ok?" Luca held up his hand to calm Callie down and he nodded. "Yes Callie, they are all fine."

"Then why do you have a look on your face like someone died?" Luca's face didn't change and that made Callie pale.

"Someone did die, didn't they?" Luca squared his shoulders and nodded his head. "Yeah Cal, someone did die." Callie dropped her bag at her feet and looked frustrated.

"Look, honey, I appreciate that you drew the short straw in telling me that someone died, but unless it was someone important…I am cold, I am tired and I spent 4 hours in the ocean today so if our families are safe and sound I could really care less about who died." Callie turned to head inside and Luca once again stopped her, this time with the truth.

"Cal, it was Liam. Liam died." Callie's hand was on the front door handle, but the words she just heard had her frozen in place. She eventually managed to turn around and face Luca with a facial expression he couldn't quite read.

"When…what happened?"

"We don't have the info right now baby, we just know he died sometime this morning. Mike called here looking for you…he figured you had a right to know." Callie nodded her head and looked around the front yard, not looking at any one thing in particular and Luca took a step towards her.

"Baby, I know saying I'm sorry in this situation isn't exactly correct, but I am sorry. You deserved to see him serve his full sentence and pay for what he did and this…well it just isn't fair and I am sorry for that." Callie looked at Luca and her face showed her struggle with her emotions. She wanted to scream, cry, hit something and she was almost angry at herself for that response. She wished she felt nothing upon hearing the news, but she was not so lucky. Luca took another step towards her and that seemed to snap Callie back into reality and…well, Stef was right. The first thing that she felt was raw anger and she didn't want anyone near her when she felt like that. She backed away from Luca and turned to walk into the house. Luca followed her inside, carrying her gear. Callie walked in the house and hesitated for a minute bout what she needed to do, but ultimately she went upstairs without saying a word to anybody. When she came back downstairs she was wrapping her hands with her practice boxing gloves. Stef and Lena watched from the living room and both of them were about to take a step toward their daughter when Luca stood in front of them with his hands in front of him.

"She won't hear anything you say to her right now. Just give her a minute. She deserves to feel mad without us trying to soothe it right away." Neither mother was happy to let their child hurt without trying to help, but they both knew that Luca was right. They all heard the back screen door slam shut and they all made their way into the kitchen, looking out the window to see what Callie was doing in the yard.

They all watched as Callie set her phone down on the patio table and hit a few buttons before positioning herself in front of the heavyweight bag that Jesus had hung in the backyard. The music began to play and with the first note Callie began wailing on the bag. The music drifted into the kitchen and everyone watched and listened.

 **Well, you almost had me fooled**

 **Told me that I was nothing without you**

 **Oh, and after everything you've done**

 **I can thank you for how strong I have become**

The punches became more exact and Luca could clearly see the tears streaming down Callie's face and at the same time he saw the fire of anger lit in her eyes, pushing her to punch harder and not take a break from throwing punches.

 **'Cause you brought the flames and you put me through hell**

 **I had to learn how to fight for myself**

 **And we both know all the truth I could tell**

 **I'll just say this as I wish you farewell**

 **I hope you're somewhere praying, praying**

 **I hope your soul is changing, changing**

 **I hope you find your peace**

 **Falling on your knees, praying**

Callie rubbed her face with the back of her arm, smearing tears across her face, but she didn't care and she kept hitting the bag in front of her, each time with more force.

 **I'm proud of who I am**

 **No more monsters, I can breathe again**

 **And you said that I was done**

 **Well, you were wrong and now the best is yet to come**

 **'Cause I can make it on my own**

 **And I don't need you, I found a strength I've never known**

 **I'll bring thunder, I'll bring rain**

 **When I'm finished, they won't even know your name**

Callie got close to the bag and began a quick succession of punches as if she were in the ring with someone and she had them on the ropes. Luca stood at the door, watching Callie's anger slowly morph into pain and hurt and the sounds she made as she stuck the bag made him want to go stop her, but he knew he had to wait for the right moment.

 **You brought the flames and you put me through hell**

 **I had to learn how to fight for myself**

 **And we both know all the truth I could tell**

 **I'll just say this as I wish you farewell**

 **I hope you're somewhere praying, praying**

 **I hope your soul is changing, changing**

 **I hope you find your peace**

 **Falling on your knees, praying**

 **Oh, sometimes, I pray for you at night**

 **Oh, someday, maybe you'll see the light**

 **Oh, some say, in life you gonna get what you give**

 **But some things, only God can forgive**

Callie's punches slowed down and soon she was gripping the bag, resting her head against the fabric and swaying with it as it stopped swinging. Luca opened the door and slowly started to walk over to Callie, hoping she was in a place now where she could be comforted by someone…anyone.

 **I hope you're somewhere praying, praying**

 **I hope your soul is changing, changing**

 **I hope you find your peace**

 **Falling on your knees, praying**

Callie was just leaning on the bag and crying, sometimes letting out angry screams into the bag so that they were muffled, but Luca could hear them. So could Stef and Lena and their hearts broke for her. Luca stood next to the bag and waited to see if Callie did or said anything else.

"Baby? Do you want to talk about it?" Callie lifted her head off the bag and looked angry all over again. She began hitting the bag again, this time not caring about proper form and safety…just wildly swinging until her arms connected with something. Luca knew if she kept that up she would break her hand so he carefully timed his movements and before Callie could throw another wild punch he had his arms wrapped around her shoulders, effectively pinning her arms at her sides.

"Callie…Cal stop it, you are going to hurt yourself if you do that."

Callie struggled against Luca, without much success since he was bigger than her, but her training meant that she was able to fight against her fiancée better than most other people could. Luca knew he would have some bruises from this encounter, but he didn't care. Letting Callie feel emotions was one thing, but letting them overwhelm her without helping her was quite another matter and was not something he was willing to do.

"Luca, let me go." Callie tried to sound angry, but her plea sounded more like a desperate plea for help rather than a command for freedom.

"No Callie, you can't do this. It is ok to be pissed off, hell I am pissed off, but you can't hurt yourself doing this just to feel better. Let me help you, let your moms help you, but you have to stop this and let me in. You do not have to go through this on your own."

Callie kept trying to break free, but after a few more failed attempts all her adrenaline was depleted and she had no energy left to fight anything, certainly not enough to keep struggling against Luca. When she gave up fighting her body just kind of fell into Luca's and he of course caught her and carefully lowered both of them to ground. Luca quickly took off the gloves and made a note of the fact that Callie's left hand was swollen and would need some ice at the very least. With the gloves off, Luca stood up from the ground and quickly lifted Callie into his arms and walked back towards the house. Stef opened the door to help him inside and he quietly made his way to the living room and settled on the couch with Callie in his lap.

After a while the silence was broken by Callie quietly talking to Luca.

"I'm sorry if I hurt you outside."

"You didn't, you were just upset and you couldn't turn it off right away. It's ok."

"It's not ok. I can't hurt people when I get angry. I grew up with people who did that and it…it's not ok."

"Callie, you protecting yourself in a vulnerable moment and you intentionally hitting someone are two different things. Right now, you don't have to be sorry for anything. You can be angry or sad or whatever, but you just can't hold it in and try and deal with it alone. We don't have to talk about it tonight, but it may help you feel a bit more at peace if you get it off your chest."

Callie played with the collar of Luca's shirt and shook her head. "Not tonight. I want to go home, shower and go to sleep. Can we deal with this tomorrow?" Luca kissed the top of Callie's head.

"I course we can." Stef and Lena, both knew that right now was not the time to smother Callie with attention so they gently kissed her goodnight and helped Luca load her into his car. Knowing that they would be back the next morning and that they could try and talk about things then, but for tonight they had to trust that Callie was being carried for and was not handling this upsetting news by herself.

 **I can make this a two chapter thing if people want to see more of it. Let me know.**


	18. Stars In My Lonely Sky

The following day, Callie had come over to her mothers' house to go over the final drawings of her dress with Mariana. Her sister asked Callie how she was doing and Callie had shrugged off the question, saying she was feeling much better after having slept, but Mariana knew better. Callie looked tired, which meant she probably didn't sleep much at all. Like any good sister, Mariana pretended not to see the red rimmed eyes of her sister, instead choosing to focus on her designs. Just as Callie had finished describing the finishing touches she wanted in her dress, Stef walked in the door from work and noticed the girls sitting at the dining room table with Mariana's drawings all around them.

"Hey loves, making any progress on the dress?" Mariana smiled as she tucked her Callie approved design into her portfolio.

"I finally have the green light to start working. Now comes the hard part." Marianna left the room and went upstairs to begin pricing out what she needed for the dress. Callie cleaned up the mess they made and she could feel Stef's eyes on her as she did.

"I can practically hear you wanting to ask me if I'm ok." Stef was shocked back into the room when her daughter did in fact catch her wondering if she was fairing any better than she was last night.

"Well that saves me from having to ask it." Stef waited for Callie to speak as they entered the kitchen. Callie paused as she reached into the fridge to grab herself a beer and offering one to her mother.

"I slept like crap. My thoughts wouldn't shut up. Luca says I fell asleep around 3am, probably because my body gave up and gave into exhaustion. So, I'm tired."

"Just tired?" Stef pushed, but only because they worried about Callie handling this news poorly and working herself into the ground in response.

"Tired, angry, sad…I think. I don't quite know why I'm sad. I mean it's not like I cared for him or anything. Who is sad when they find out their rapist is dead?"

"Maybe a person who has a big heart and an incredible capacity to forgive."

"That's just it though, I don't think I can ever forgive what he did."

"You once quoted Gandhi saying 'The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.' I think you did forgive him a little bit, just like you forgave the foster parents that hurt you. You didn't say that what they did was ok, but you did what Jesus suggested you do when your dad died…you found the way to live that gave you the most peace as opposed to what would hurt them the most."

Callie thought about her mother's point and she reflected on her own words from what seemed like forever ago.

"I'm mad that he doesn't have to pay for what he did, at least not really. I'm sad…I guess because even though his parents were equally awful people, I know how much it hurts to bury someone you loved. He was my monster, but he was their son at one point, so in spite of everything, I feel sorry for them."

"Told you…incredible capacity to love. And for what's it worth, the little girl in me who grew up Catholic still believes that he'll get what he deserves wherever it is that he ends up." Stef hugged Callie around her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

"I guess I just thought that when I heard he was dead that I would stop feeling like a victim, but it's still there and I fucking hate it." Stef held Callie's hand and tried to soothe her.

"Sweets, I've known women who have dealt with sexual assault before and they all healed in their own time and they all reported feeling like they finally weren't a victim at different stages in their recovery from what happened to them. I wish, more than anything, that mama and I could make that feeling go away. Maybe going back to therapy for a little while would help."

"I'd probably need to pay for it out of pocket because I'd rather my command never catch wind of this. This doesn't change how I do my job and neither does this little hiccup."

"Callie, you don't have to minimize your feelings and call it a hiccup. You are allowed to fall apart if that's what you need to do." Callie looked angry and she finished her beer before pushing the bottle away from her.

"I'm so sick of falling apart though. I just want my life back and yet somehow even in death he has managed to take things from me. I couldn't let Luca touch me at all last night and I know deep down it killed him to not be able to hold me and comfort me, but I couldn't handle feeling arms around me after my adrenaline faded. It hasn't been like that for years…I never was afraid of him touching me, now all of sudden the man who is gonna be my husband can't hold me while I cry because I panic." Stef wanted to phrase her question carefully because Callie was already upset.

"Are you afraid that that is always how it's gonna be? That you won't ever be able to let him touch you at all." Callie stifled a laugh and her cheeks blushed red.

"You're asking me if I'm afraid that we can't have sex? You as my mother really want to know the answer to that question?"

"You are my baby and you are hurting so if talking about this fear helps then you bet I want the answer to that question. If you don't want to talk about it then we don't have to, but you know you can come to me and talk about it if you want to right?" Callie swallowed hard and nodded.

"I got past it before and we worked through my issues surrounding having a healthy sex life, I just don't want this to throw a wrench in that and make us start back at square one."

"I bet if you asked him, Luca wouldn't mind starting at square one if it meant you feeling safe and secure after all this."

"I guess." Callie stood up from her seat and pointed to the back door. "I'm gonna go get some air." She walked past Stef and offered her mother a kiss before walking away, quietly thanking her mother under her breath…something that Stef heard as the young woman walked outside. A few minutes later, Jude came downstairs and noticed his sister outside.

"How she doing?" Stef shrugged her shoulders.

"Tired and angry. I think she wanted to be alone for a few minutes." Jude frowned and again looked outside to his sister walking around the backyard with her arms crossed tightly against her chest.

"Yeah, well…too bad." Just opened the door and was outside before Stef could stop him. She watched Jude approach his sister and the two talked for a few minutes. She couldn't hear what they said to each other, but then she saw Jude take his phone from his pocket and put it in the dock that they had set up in the backyard during the summer months so they could play music during BBQ's. Music started to play and Jude held out his hand for his sister to take and without hesitation she did, letting him pull her close to him as they started to slowly dance to the music.

 **Softly the morning light,  
Softly the dew,  
Softly my soul will bend,  
As she comes in view,  
At dawn she is delicate,  
And burning by noon,  
The end of the day will come soon.**

 **And the stars in my lonely sky,  
Are infinite bright,  
And the stars know my soul will fly,  
They're holding it tight.**

Stef assumed that Jude had convinced his sister to practice dancing with him for the weeding because every so often she would correct his footing or how he was holding her. They both seemed happy, so whatever Jude said…it was clearly what Callie needed to hear.

 **There she is rising now,  
My heart it might break,  
The birds in her warmth will fly,  
My soul it will ache,  
And the world comes alive for her,  
In awe at her gaze,  
And suddenly the sky is ablaze,**

 **And the stars in my lonely sky,  
Are infinite bright,  
And the stars know my soul will fly,  
They're holding it tight.**

 **Say not her name to me,  
For I live in the shade,  
Briefly I see her,  
As she starts to fade,  
In silence we pass,  
Our path is well worn,  
In silence I wait for the dawn.**

 **And the stars in my lonely sky,  
Are infinite bright,  
And the stars know my soul will fly,  
They're holding it tight.**

 **Calmly I drift along,  
Oh I will endure,  
I only belong to her,  
Of that I am sure,  
Will I ever hold her,  
I cannot presume,  
For she's the sun,  
I'm only the moon.**

Callie leaned against her brother's chest and the two just swayed to the last few lines of the song and Callie seemed to be happy to do exactly that.

 **And the stars in my lonely sky,  
Are infinite bright,  
And the stars know my soul will fly,  
They're holding it tight.**

 **And the stars in my lonely sky,  
Are infinite bright,  
And the stars know my soul will fly,  
They're holding it tight.**

 **So I know it's not long, but I wanted to put this out there and have someone continue to talk to Callie about what happened and I threw in the things about sex because it was bound to come up at some point I figured touching on it now would be less awkward. The song is Hunter Moon by Kate Rusby and for some reason the melody and the words just seemed to fit Callie. Let me know what you want to see coming up…aside from Callie getting hurt because a lot of you want that.**


	19. Happy Tears

The following weekend Callie and Luca had set aside time to go over wedding plans because even though they wouldn't be getting married until the following year there were decisions that needed to be made. Luca knew that plenty of men were happy to make their wife-to-be be the decision maker and simply sit off to the side and nod. He promised himself and Callie that this would not be the case with their wedding. There were things Luca wanted to be a part of their day and Callie was glad to have a partner that actually wanted to look at flower arrangements and seating charts. They had a to do list and Luca had picked what he had hoped would be the easiest thing to check off: the in memory table.

He knew that death had touched both he and Callie in the same way and had stolen a parent, but he wanted to make sure that their wedding included everyone…even the two people who wouldn't be sitting there to witness it.

"I think we should set aside seats for them at the ceremony itself, not just a table of pictures at the reception." Luca clicked through ideas on the internet and showed Callie one of the ideas he liked and he began to draw it out for her to get a better idea.

"We just leave one seat empty on your side and mine and maybe we put a white rose on the chair. That way they have front row seats, next to your moms and my mom and stepdad." Luca showed Callie the drawing and Callie had to smile at her finace.

"You hate it don't you?"

"No baby, I love it and I love using white roses as seat holders, its just…you talk about my mom and your dad the same way Jude does when we go to visit mom's grave. He always talks like she is gonna be standing there in front of us instead of buried underneath us." Luca sighed and he realized that Callie was right.

"I guess…I still feel that way about my dad. There are days I feel something making me stronger or brave or whatever I need to get through something and I like thinking that's him."

"Honey, I am in no way judging your feelings about your dad. I can promise you that every dark moment of my life, my mother was there and it kept me alive and now she gets to be there for the beautiful moments, so I get it, what I meant is that its nice that you still feel that. Most people would have told both of us to move on and to put our losses behind us a long time ago."

"Yeah, well, those people didn't lose the people we lost." Callie kissed the side of Luca's head and snuggled closer to him as the poured over pictures to use. They finally settled on a picture of Luca's father and mother from their wedding and a picture of Callie's mother from a time before she was married. Luca looked at the picture of the woman who should be his mother in law and he was blown away by how much Callie looked like her mom. The couple spent a few more minutes making decisions on the memorials for their parents and for the few other people they would be honoring. They wanted to get a little bit more done before they put the wedding planning away for the day.

"What about the first dances?"

"You mean like the mother-son, father-daughter ones?"

"Yeah."

"Well we only one half of that equation, so its really just a matter of what song you want to dance with your mother to."

"It's not written in stone that you have to dance with your actual father Cal. You could dance with whoever the hell you want. If you want to that is."

Callie thought about it and looked through her music. She had two mothers she could dance with and then there was Jude.

"I never thought I'd have the problem of having so many people to dance with. Always thought I'd sit this part out if I ever got married."

"Well, you can if that's what you want, but you have a lot of people who would probably love to spin you around the dance floor." Callie smiled and kept scrolling through music.

"I could always pick a song for me and my moms to dance to and you could dance with the other one while I dance with one of them, that way they both get their moments with me."

"I like that idea a lot, I bet they will too."

"Would it be asking too much to have a dance with Jude. I mean I obviously can't have a special dance with every member of my family, but…I think it's something we both could use after the emotional rollercoaster of me getting married." Luca smiled at Callie and rubbed the top of her hand.

"Baby, you can have as many special dances as you want and you won't hear a peep out of me. I think dancing with Jude would be a nice thing for the two of you and would likely reduce everyone to tears."

"I feel like this wedding is just going to be one giant puddle of tears."

"Happy tears though."

"Happy tears."

 **Sorry its super short, but I was stuck on an idea for this chapter. I'm going to try and update again before school starts cuz once it does I'll have applications for internships plus my dissertation all on top of school so it will be sporadic. I have an idea of what I want to do in the next chapter since a lot of you guys asked for it, but keep the ideas coming.**


	20. Family Wedding Planning

**People asked for more stuff with the moms so I'm gonna try and work that in more.**

Two weekends later Callie was out of the rotation at work and Luca had just finished working on a big project with his supervisor so they had invited their families over to help them do what they considered to be the fun part of wedding planning: picking out the cake. Luca's parents were going to be out of town with his sisters, but Callie's family was not about to miss out on the chance to help and Jesus wasn't about to pass on free food. Lena insisted they have this gathering at the house since she knew that this part of planning could get messy and take up space that Callie and Luca didn't have, pus their family was anything put small.

That Saturday afternoon Luca walked into the Foster's house with three boxes from three different bakeries and Callie followed with one from another bakery that had been added to their list last minute.

"Good grief you guys, how many cake are you going to have?" Stef eyed the options that had just been placed in her kitchen and laughed.

"We've actually been thinking of following the trend of having cupcakes so we could pick more than one flavor. We already picked out a flavor for the cake that we'll cut."

"I see so what are the options left for the rest of us to choose from." Callie pointed from left to right and rattled off flavors and fillings. She saw her brothers' eyes get big and she had to laugh. Brandon would be visiting next week to help the two interview DJ's and bands to see which they would prefer, but for this tasting her other siblings were more than happy to help.

"Hope you guys brought enough for grandma." Callie heard Sharon's voice coming through to the kitchen and about knocked Luca over to get to her in an effort to hug her.

"Why didn't you tell me that you were visiting?"

"Honey you know that grandma likes to keep everyone on their toes. I just got in the morning and I only gave your mommas about 2 hours notice." Sharon winked at her granddaughter and Stef had to shake her head.

"Yes, yes. It was a lot of fun prepping the house for a guest with two hours notice, thanks mom."

"Don't sass me young lady."

"Ohhh, mom's in trouble." Jesus called from his spot next to Luca and his response was a gentle slap to the back of his head from his twin who sat across the table from him.

"Don't be a jerk or we won't share our cake with you." Jesus stuck his tongue out at his sister, but settled into his seat with Jude on one side and Luca on the other. Once everyone settled down Callie handed out paper so people could mark their favorites and from their they would eliminate choices until they had all settled on three or four, ideally from the same bakery.

As they all tried different treats, Sharon fired off questions to Callie and Luca, trying to get a firm grasp on the wedding plans.

"So have you two set a date yet?"

"We were just talking about that last night and we were thinking the third weekend in March. It's after Brandon's and my birthday and the weather should still be nice without it being blazing hot with the threat of rain. Most of the activities would be inside anyway, but it would be nice to get pictures outside."

"You didn't tell us you guys had picked a date. Now we can order the save the date cards and the wedding invitations." Lena pipped up after tasting her third flavor of cake and writing down some notes on it.

"Well, like I said, we just settled on it last night. So we can look at designs before we head home today."

"Well, you two just get whatever it is you want and send grandma the check." Luca and Stef both chocked on the food in their mouth at the same time.

"Sharon, you really don't have to do that. We are doing things on a budget and my parents along with Callie's are all helping. We have enough money to do most of the things we want to do."

"Most of what you want to do. You two should have everything you want on that day. Please let me help with something. Listen kids, no one is guaranteed tomorrow and I have no promises in life that I'll live to see every one of my grandkids get married. You can't take it with you and I have enough to share with you after paying my own expenses so please let me help."

Callie made eye contact with Luca and she knew this argument would not end with Sharon relenting.

"If you insist on helping, we'd like to have a bigger budget for the photographer and we weren't expecting the down payment to be so damn high to book the church."

"Grandma will cover it. You guys just get a good photographer and let me hand the check for the church." Callie and Luca both hugged Sharon and offered their thanks.

"We really appreciate this grandma and we honestly can live without it."

"Ah, I won't hear another word on it, you just tell me who to make the check out to for the church and I'll give it to you before I head home."

"So you guys finally decided to get married indoors?" Stef questioned after she too abandoned trying to talk her mother out of giving her daughter money for the wedding.

"Yeah. We talked about a beach wedding, but my hair does so badly with humidity and no one is gonna want to be in suits in the sun. Plus, Luca's parents got married at this church so we thought it would be nice if we did too. Now we are just searching for a place to have the reception that is near by to the church. We were going to do it next weekend, but I have to be on call on base both days so that shoots that in the foot."

"Well, we might not be able to make decisions about things, but mama and I could go with Luca or we could split up the list and go take pictures of them for you. Then you two could make the decision when you both had time to sit down." Callie shrugged her shoulders and Luca nodded.

"If you guys would be willing to do that it would be great. All the places are in about half an hour from the church so it shouldn't be too bad. Luca's mom is meeting with the church representative to book the date so she's going to be doing that while you all go looking for reception locations."

"Well, now that I have a firm deadline on when you need the dress I can tell you that it'll be done within the next six months so we can do a fitting then and I can make any adjustments to it that you want, in case you want something added or actually decide you want a veil." Mariana piped up from her place at the table and seemed very proud at the progress she had made on the dress.

"Just make sure no one sees it. You guys are all gonna try and sneak a peek and you are all just going to have to wait until the wedding. Only Mariana and I get to see it."

"Not even your mothers get to see it?" Lena jumped in feigning being hurt.

"Normally, if I were buying a dress you guys would be a part of it, but since it's being made I want to surprise everyone with it."

"That just leaves the DJ and the caterer."

Luca pulled out a few business cards from his pocket and put them on the table.

"We have meetings over the next three weeks with caterers to try some of their food and we are meeting with DJ's on the days we aren't meeting with food people. Basically all our free time this month is spoken for with wedding planning, but if we do it right, by the end of the month we would have had most of the decisions made."

"So T-minus 9 months?" Luca nodded at Mariana and smiled. "Nine months to get all this craziness down. I hope everyone is up for the challenge."

 **So I hated this chapter because it was such a filler chapter to me. I truthfully would love to skip ahead to wedding stuff because I like it, but I realize I need some other stuff in there beforehand. Some people wanted to see Callie hurt at work and if I make that happen it'll be minor…no major accidents that would postpone the wedding, but I'm open to suggestions.**


	21. Happy Wife, Happy Life

**Guys I am so incredibly sorry for the months of no update. I had to turn in applications for my Doctoral internship and it's a big step in my schooling and its incredibly important and expensive. All my time has been going to that and my free time has been eaten up by anxiety over those applications. I can't apologize enough, but school had to come first.**

A month later the moms had made good on their offer to help Callie and Luca look for reception spots that were nearby to the church. That weekend, Luca was free and so was Stef, leaving the two of them to look for sites together while Callie was at work and Lena was at a conference in LA. They were currently standing in the lobby of one of the hotels on the couple's list, waiting for the event coordinator to meet them. Stef looked around at the lobby before returning to sit next to Luca on a sofa in the waiting area near the check in desk.

"This place almost makes me wish Lena and I had had a more public venue for our wedding."

"Almost huh? From what I hear and the pictures I've seen, you guys had the perfect venue. Trust me, we'd be getting married in your backyard if Callie didn't have to invite certain people from work."

"Gotta love work politics I guess. But you guys are having the rehearsal dinner at our place. That'll be enough to make Callie happy." Right at that moment the event coordinator came out and introduced herself to Luca and then to Stef. She began walking with the pair trailing behind her while she pointed out the architecture and other various selling points.

"About how many people are you expecting for the reception?"

Luca pulled out the binder from his briefcase and flipped to the page that outlined the reception. He had laughed at Callie when she made this binder, but now it was serving them both well as they made these plans without the other person present. This way he knew exactly what Callie wanted and what she couldn't stand.

"If everyone RSVPs, 150, but we are expecting closer to 120."

"Well, we can accommodate up to 300 so something half that size would leave you with a lot of space for the dance floor, DJ, band and anything else you want to have. Will you need to have the reception catered by us or will you be using an outside vender?"

Again, Luca checked the binder and smiled.

"It would appear my wife had dinner here last month with one of her superiors and she loved the food, so I believe that means we will be going with your in house catering services." Stef touched his arm and smiled.

"Honey, don't you want to try the food first to see if you like it. It's your wedding too." Luca smiled for a moment and turned to the young woman who was helping them.

"Tell me, does your catering menu include any type of steak?"

"The best cut you'll find in San Diego." Luca smiled and looked at Stef while shrugging his shoulders.

"As long as I can eat a steak and drink a beer after my wedding we could have this reception on the moon. If Callie liked it then it had to have been good. She can be picky about her food when it's not homemade, as you well know." Luca looked back to the woman.

"Well, you were at the top of my wife's list and I think this place is amazing. So the real question is, do you have an opening on our wedding day?"

"Let's pull up the calendar and check." The young woman took out her tablet and punched a few buttons before showing the screen to Luca and Stef.

"What date had you decided on?"

"March 24th." After looking through the tablet in front of her the woman smiled and showed the day to Luca.

"You just got very lucky Mr. Russo, we had a corporate event planned here for that day, but they had to move it up a week so if you can put a deposit on it today, then I believe we have a deal." Luca pulled out his check book, but instead of writing a check he simply took a loose one out and handed it to the woman.

"I believe this is what you quoted me on the phone for the deposit." The woman took the check and smiled, marking the date as reserved in her tablet that was linked to the hotel's system.

"Well then Mr. Russo, you have yourself a reception location. On your way out we can stop by my office and I'll give you a packet that details our services from catering to tables and chair rentals." With this big item checked off the to-do list, Luca invited Stef to grab lunch on their way back to the house and as Luca left the hotel parking lot Stef spoke up.

"You called Callie your wife in there. How'd that feel?" Luca smiled big, so much so that his teeth were showing.

"Just wanted to hear how it sounded. I liked it. It feels…better than just calling her my fiancé."

"I know what you mean, calling Lena my wife instead of my partner makes all the difference sometimes."

A beat of silence went by before Stef broke the silence again.

"That deposit was not cheap, that much I know and Callie would've had you write your own check if you were paying for it so who just paid for that reception deposit?"

"Stef…I value my life WAY too much to ever look your mother in the eye and tell her no." Stef shook her head and had to laugh.

"Of course my mother gave it to you."

"Don't worry, I made her promise not to pay for anything else and to please count this and the church reservation as our wedding gift because that's already way too much money. She promised, though I'm not sure how much I should believe her."

"My mother is of the mind that since she missed out on spoiling Callie as a child she should be able to do so now that she's an adult. I'll have a talk with her."

"Stef, really, it's fine. She just wanted us to have the venues that we dreamt of and she wanted to be a part of that process. She promised no more writing us checks." Stef let it go, knowing that deep down her mother would do as she pleased, but that this was not her wedding to call the shots on. If Luca said he handled it, then Stef knew to back off. Once back at the house Luca stepped out of the car and noticed the front door open. All he heard after that was Stef let out a happy yelp before running up the steps. Luca eventually saw Brandon standing in the doorway, currently being hugged to death by his mother. Once he was behind Stef the older woman let go of her son and Luca offered Brandon a quick hug before ushering them all inside.

"I thought you weren't coming out to help us interview DJ's till next week?"

"I got some extra time off from work, have a few job interviews lined up while I'm here and I figured I could help you at the same time." Stef fussed over Brandon for a while before going into the kitchen to start dinner and Luca took this moment to grab Brandon and enlist his help in something special for the wedding.

"So Callie and I are picking songs to dance to, but Jude asked to sing a song for her with some special video presentation and it gave me an idea to have one of you guys sing a song that I picked out for Callie. I can sing ok, but you and Jude would do so much better and this way I can dance with Callie while you guys play the guitar."

"Whatever you need. I'm sure Jude would be happy to help too. I take it you have some songs in mind." Luca reached into his pocket for his phone and pointed out the two songs to Brandon and Brandon had to smile. They were sappy love songs, but he knew they were coming from a sincere place with Luca.

"If you give me a couple of weeks I can order the sheet music for them both and you can take your pick." Luca smiled and hugged the other young man tightly.

"She's gonna flip, it'll be great."

 **So it was short and maybe ended kinda weird, but I want to move this along a bit since I took so long to update. People wanted to see Callie get hurt at work and if that's still what you want then I'll probably do that in the next chapter. Otherwise it would be more wedding stuff. Let me know and thank you for sticking with me if you are still reading this.**


	22. RSVP

**More wedding plans were requested by people so for the sake of time I am jumping a few months ahead because otherwise I'll be writing this section forever. I have a brief break in work for school before finals and my dissertation forms are due so enjoy this update** **.**

With Christmas just around the corner, the Foster household was busy with wedding planning and Christmas planning, so needless to say there, was very little space that wasn't be used to plan something. Lena and Luca sat at the dining room table going over the RSVPs one last time before they sent a final list of guests to the hotel so they had an accurate head count for food and chairs.

"And in what can only be explained as a gift from God, Principal Sanchez sends her regrets, but she is busy that weekend. I still don't get why we invited her at all." Luca threw the RSVP card in the small pile of "No" responses as he eyed Lena who was typing out the final guest list.

"You know how Callie had to invite certain people because of work politics? So did I."

"Why? You don't have any kids in the school anymore. I mean Christ Lena, you should have her job."

"I know that and that's what I'm playing at by being nice to her. I know she wants to change schools and if she does it on her terms she can have some say in who replaces her. She knows I could ruin her career if she decided not to help me build mine up." Luca had to hand it to his mother in law to be, she was not a stupid woman. Lena showed the list to Luca to approve before they sent it to the hotel event planner. As they began to clean up Callie walked in the front door and put her bag into the hall closet before offering Luca a kiss and her mother a hug.

"Hey love, you guys get the list all done?"

"Done and sent off, so check that off the list."

"Wonderful, well I have to go try on the dress so Mariana can get final adjustments made to it and I can figure out if I have enough room to breathe in it." Callie took off upstairs to meet with her sister and Luca turned to Lena.

"Anyone catch a glimpse of the dress yet?"

"Please. Mariana hasn't let us near her room since she started working on it and now that it's almost done we are banned from that room for the next three months. So, no, sorry I can't tell you any details. Guess you will just have to be surprised when she shows up at the altar."

"Well it is one of the things Callie is bring super traditional about. I don't get to see it period until the wedding. We have to get ready separate, take picture separately first and group pictures later etc. I just never pegged her as the type to want such a traditional wedding."

"You know why that is right?" Luca shrugged his shoulders and Lena saw she needed to explain.

"She never got to have a dream wedding in her head growing up. She didn't grow up like every other woman who gets to plan their weddings from the time they are old enough to know what one is. She was busy trying to survive. What she does know about weddings she had learned from TV and movies and they make traditional weddings look grand and romantic and I think the little girl in her who never got to plan a wedding wants exactly that. And as her mother, it is my job to make sure she gets it." Luca nodded his head and held up his hand in defense.

"Don't worry, I'm not trying to stop any of it. I like traditional…I just never expected it from her, that's all."

An hour later Callie and Mariana came downstairs and joined in on helping with dinner even though Luca and Callie couldn't stay for the meal itself.

"So, how'd the dress fit?" Lena asked, knowing the answer would be simple and brief.

"Well it fits and I have room to move, breathe and dance in it so I think it's spot on. And Mariana already locked it up for the night, so no trying to see it."

"Why does everyone assume I am the one who is most likely to try and see it. I'm happy to see it when I finally see you that day." Everyone "aww'ed" and Callie rolled her eyes.

"I suppose you think that nice comment deserves a kiss?"

"I think so." Luca winked at her as Callie leaned over and gave him a quick kiss before washing her hands and nodding towards the door.

"We gotta get going. We said we'd meet Luca's folks for dinner before we meet with the minister." Luca packed up his things and said his goodbyes to everyone before he and Callie left to tend to their other responsibilities. When they were gone Mariana continued to help her mother with dinner.

"He's going to faint if he waits to see the dress on her at the wedding. Poor boy is gonna stop breathing."

Lena laughed, "you think he's that emotional that he won't be able to hold himself upright at the mere sight of your sister." Lena thought about her own question and realized Mariana had a point.

"She really look that good in the dress?"

"Not to toot my own horn, but I think I made stiff competition for myself if I ever get married. She looks stunning in it…trust me, he'll at least stop breathing when he sees her."

"The real question is what's Jude gonna do when he sees her?" At that moment Jude came in the room in just enough time to hear his name.

"What is Jude gonna do when he sees who?"

"Callie in her wedding dress." Jude thought for a minute and shrugged his shoulders. "Probably dissolve into tears for a few minutes then I'll collect myself and do my job in walking her down the aisle." Lena and Mariana both looked at the young man with questioning glances.

"What? You expect me to see my big sister in her wedding gown and not cry."

"No, but that was a pretty honest answer."

"That wedding is gonna be a mess of tears from start to finish. And you know what, it should be a mess. She deserves big emotional speeches and music and dancing and whatever else she wants."

"Relax buddy, Callie and Luca will have a lovely wedding. Everything is coming together nicely so in three months it'll be perfect." Jude looked around and seemed like he wanted to be anywhere but in that room.

"I'm gonna go practice a song for the rehearsal dinner. Call me when dinner is ready." Jude returned to his room and Lena offered to go after him and she found him in his room with sheet music on his bed and his guitar in his arms.

"You ok?"

"Fine. Just figuring out which song to do at the dinner and which to save for the reception." Lena looked over the music on the bed and smiled at the choices her son had made.

"You know your sister and I were just giving you a hard time, we didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Jude strummed the guitar a few times before slapping his hand against the strings to stop the sound.

"You didn't hurt my feelings, but I don't see how me being honest about how I feel about the wedding is dinner conversation. She's my sister who raised me, you bet I'm gonna cry when I see her dressed up to go become someone's wife. I'm not sad or angry, I just…if we earned anything, she and I earned crying on her wedding day."

"Honey, no one is trying to take that from you. We know that this is gonna be an emotional day for the two of you." Jude nodded his head and turned back to his music.

"I got pick a song so I can work with the DJ for the reception. I'll be down for dinner in a minute." Lena knew that for now she would have to leave well enough alone and let Jude feel whatever it was he was feeling, knowing that deep down he knew he could talk to anyone of his family members about what he was feeling and what had him so defensive.

 **So it's short and a little out of character for Jude, but I felt the same way when my sister got married. The idea that she was my sister before she was ever anyone's wife or mother. So I put it in. Let me know if you all want to see Christmas or if you would like to skip to the wedding chapters where you see the rehearsal dinner and then the wedding etc.**


	23. Tree Trimming

**Generally, people wanted to see Christmas and then the wedding, which is fine with me. Let me know if there is something special you want to see in the Christmas chapters or if you just want good natured Christmas fluff.**

Callie had just come off a 48 hour tour where she was on the base at the ready, in case her team needed to be called out. That being said, she had promised her family that they would go get Christmas trees when she got off work that Saturday afternoon. Luca and Callie planned to get their own small tree for their apartment, but Callie invited Luca to help pick out the family tree while they shopped for their own. All that to say, that was why she was standing in the parking lot of the family's normal tree lot, huge cup of coffee in her hand and Luca standing to her left.

"Your mom said they were 5 minutes away, but that we could go in and start looking for our own if we wanted to." Callie waved off the suggestion. "Mom will want to introduce you to Matt and brag about the wedding a little bit so I say we wait and let her have her proud mom moment." Callie let out a yawn and leaned against Luca's shoulder and minutes later her family pulled up in the van. Callie and Luca walked a few steps behind Lena and Stef and much like he had every year, Matt spotted Stef and scooped her up in a hug when she got close to him.

"Did I lose my mind or is there a new member of your crew this year Stef?" Stef gestured for Luca to come closer to her and he left Callie's side to stand next to Stef.

"Matt, this is Luca, Luca this is my friend Matt." Matt didn't give Stef a chance to finish before he held out his hand for Luca to shake.

"You must be pretty special for this motely crew to bring you with them for Christmas tree shopping." Luca smiled as he let Matt's hand go and quickly held out his hand for Callie's.

"Well I think Stef and Lena only let me come this year because I'm marrying their daughter." Callie held out her hand for Matt to see the ring on her finger. Stef jumped back into the conversation.

"Can you believe it Matt? My baby is getting married…in three months." Matt looked back at Luca and smiled wider.

"Congratulations. This your guys' first Christmas together?"

"Well it's our first one with our own apartment and as an engaged couple. We've celebrated with each other's families before though." Luca explained and Matt looked over to Callie.

"Well kiddo, you know the rules, first tree is free." Normally Stef would've argued with her friend for giving them free tree, but Luca jumped in. "Really sir, you don't have to make special rules for us."

"Nothing special about it son. Ask your wife to be how much they paid for her first Christmas tree with this family." Luca looked to Callie who nodded to confirm that they had in fact paid nothing that year for a tree since it was her and Jude's first one with the family.

"Pick a tree out for your place together and please accept it on the house. I like to start families off right and all I have to offer this time of year is trees so that's what I do. Take it as a wedding present if nothing else." Luca nodded his head and thanked Matt as he and Callie went about looking at the shorter trees for their apartment. They didn't need a big tree this year; with all the wedding planning the last thing they needed was something to take care of and decorate only to take it down in January. The rest of the family looked at larger trees, knowing that Christmas day would be spent at their house, with Christmas Eve being spent with Luca's family.

Luca and Callie quickly found a tree they liked that looked like it would fit in their living room nicely and they called Matt over to bind it for them. As he trim the lower braches Matt called Luca over and showed him as he cut a thin sliver of the tree trunk off and handed it to the young man.

"You take that home, put Our First Christmas Tree on it with a Sharpie and write the year under it. It'll make a nice ornament and I've always told couples its good luck." Luca smiled and slipped the piece of wood into his coat and helped Matt bind the tree and put it on top of his car. He returned to see Stef standing around with the rest of the family with their tree selection. Matt helped Stef get the tree on the car and tie it down. He said his goodbyes to everyone and with Callie's blessing Stef handed Matt a make shift invitation to the wedding that she wrote out on some paper, telling him to call her this week to RSVP.

Once home Luca and Callie set the tree up and spent the afternoon putting lights on it.

"We're gonna have to start collecting ornaments so we don't have to use just the ones I got from the drug store." Luca punctuated Callie's statement by reaching around her and hanging the ornament Matt had provided for them, this time it had "Our First Christmas Tree" and the year written on it.

"Well we have one. Mom still has my baby first Christmas from when I was a baby, but she should keep that at their house. We'll order one for next year for our first Christmas as a married couple. We can build from there." Callie nodded and thought about it for a minute longer.

"I'll have to check those boxes from my mom's old place…maybe mine or Jude's is in there. Then again they may have been lost long ago: I didn't see it in there when I went through them the first time."

"Maybe you just need fresh eyes." Luca rubbed Callie's shoulder and reached for his jacket. "Now come on, we promised to help you moms with their tree today and help my parents with theirs's tomorrow." Callie wondered silently why they had agreed to this much tree trimming, but deep down it made her happy to engage in this part of the Christmas season.

Over at the Foster household, the whole family was in the living room trying to wrestle lights onto the tree and everyone was getting equally frustrated. When they seemed to finally get all the lights up Stef opened the boxes they kept ornaments and just as they started to sort through them, Callie's cell phone went off. After a very quick conversation she quickly made her way into the garage where her gear was kept and rushed to change. She emerged from the bathroom in her uniform and wetsuit and Lena looked her over and could see how tired she was.

"Callie, you guys just came off a 48 hour tour. Aren't they supposed to use another team."

"Funnily enough mama they did not seem to care that we hadn't slept. They must already be using our back up team. Whatever the case, I gotta go. Sorry about missing the rest of the tree." The car pulled up a few minutes later and after offering Luca and her mothers quick kisses, Callie was out the door and the car was taking off down the street.

"Come on guys. We can have the tree done by the time Callie gets home." Stef refocused everybody and they returned to decorating the tree. About an hour later, with the tree almost covered in decorations, Luca asked for Stef's help in the garage.

"Callie kept those boxes from her mom's old apartment out here right?" Stef nodded and pointed to the rafters which prompted Luca to grab the ladder and climb up it looking for the boxes.

"What exactly are you looking for honey? She put the photos in an album, the paperwork in a safe deposit box at the bank and whatever is left is just random things she never went through."

"Exactly, things she never went through, which means what I'm looking for might still be in here. I owe it to her to look before I go buy a new one."

"A new one of what?" Luca came back down with two boxes on his shoulders and he carefully put them down on the ground before looking back at Stef. "Baby's First Christmas ornament". Stef's face paled a little bit and Luca realized how that sounded and he quickly back peddled.

"Her first Christmas ornament, her's and Jude's from their mom, not like a new baby. Callie's not…we're not having…" Luca continued to ramble and Stef put her hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"Honey relax. I get the picture, she's not pregnant, you just want to look for her ornament so she can have it."

"Right, that sounds much better than what I said." Stef took one box and opened it up, leaving the other to Luca. They went through a few odd items that Callie had set aside before they got to a small box that seemed to have a few Christmas things in it and Luca hoped for the best. There were homemade ornaments from Callie's early years and Christmas cards from those years and Luca hoped somewhere in that mess he would find at least one of the ornaments. After taking out most of the things in the box, an envelope was all that remained. Luca looked to Stef and then he carefully opened the envelope. There was only one thing in that envelope and it was what Luca was looking for, well half of what he was looking for. The ornament he found was crystal and bore the year that Jude was born, but Callie's was nowhere to be found.

"Figures Jude's survived being packed away, but hers didn't. She managed to save him from everything and save his memories too. No one saved hers." Luca looked at the ornament in his hand and held it out to Stef.

"I bet you and Lena would like to hang this up." Stef gently pushed the ornament back to Luca.

"I think someone else should see it first. Hers may not have made it to us, but she'll be happy to know that his did. And you know what honey, all her things may not have made it here with her, but she made it here and that is a hell of a lot more important to me than any ornament." Luca nodded, but still looked sad. He packed up the boxes and put them back before returning into the house with Stef. Everyone was still in the living room and Lena looked up when she heard them come back into the house.

"You two have fun in the garage while we cleaned up?" Lena winked at her wife and Luca smiled.

"Sorry Lena, I was looking for something."

"Did you find it?" Luca nodded and held the ornament out for her to see and her breath hitched in her throat when she saw what he had in his hand. She looked at him with hopeful eyes.

"Callie's?" Luca shook his head no.

"I'm gonna fix it though. People have these made every year, I just need to find a place that will put a past year on the ornament and then she'll have one again." Luca looked so determined you would've thought this was a matter of life and death. He careful put the ornament on the tree to keep it in a safe spot for when Callie got home.

It ended up being several hours before Callie came home and when she did everyone was sitting down to dinner. She walked in the door, dropped her gear at her feet and softly kicked the door shut behind her.

"I'm home." Callie didn't even bother going into the kitchen, instead, she went straight to the living room and collapsed on the couch. Luca walked in to find Callie face down on the sofa and he would've laughed if she wasn't so exhausted.

"Love, you want anything to eat?" Callie turned her head towards Luca and forced a smile.

"I would like to sleep for about three days without my phone ringing, but thank you. We grabbed food on our way back to base and I showered there so I'm just gonna lay here until we go home. Wake me up when you finish eating ok?" Luca grabbed the ornament and took a seat on the coffee table opposite Callie.

"Hey, before you pass out, I found something you might be happy to see." Callie rolled over and tried to focus her tired eyes on the object in Luca's hand. She eventually took it in her own hands and got a good look at what she was holding and her eyes got big.

"Where the hell did you find this?"

"I went through those old boxes with your mom and we found Jude's. No luck finding yours though. Sorry." Callie could see how upset Luca was with no being able to find her ornament from her first Christmas. She sat up half way and held Luca's hand.

"It's not your fault. Besides, you finding this is more precious to me. Now he gets to have this memory with him."

"What about you and your memory?"

"Listen baby, as log as I get to spend the rest of my Christmases with you, our families and the family we build together, I think I can live without having a physical memory of my first one." Callie handed the ornament back to Luca and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for finding this for me and for him. I can't tell you how much it means to me. You better be careful or I'm gonna expect this level of commitment to all things during our married life."

"I think I can handle that job, as long as I have you."

"You always have me…but right now, I would love to nap while you eat dinner, so go be the hero of the day and let me sleep. Poke me awake when you are ready to head home." Luca hung the ornament back on the tree and when he turned back to look at Callie she already appeared to be sleeping, indicating she was truly exhausted. He shut off the lights and left his bride to sleep in the room illuminated by the lights on the tree.

 **I almost had Callie get hurt, but I don't really want to do that before the wedding, but I'll hold onto it for another time. This idea just kind of popped into my head so I went with it.**


	24. Baby's First Christmas Sort Of

**Well, with all this net neutrality issues going on its hard to say how long we'll have the ability to update these stories so I figured to update while I still can.**

Christmas morning everyone slept in a little longer than normal because they were exhausted due to both working and wedding planning. Eventually, Callie and Luca made their way to Stef and Lena's for breakfast and gifts. Some things never change and everyone rushed through eating so they could get to the gift opening part of the day. Callie and Luca had both insisted that their family not give them gifts since the wedding was so soon after the holidays and everyone was helping them and they considered that gift enough for them. They still got a few small things along with a few gifts from Callie's grandparents who insisted that they were going to buy them gifts regardless of their request to hold off.

Callie had bought gifts for her family throughout the year so that Christmas shopping would be done early. To start they all got Navy swag ranging from Stef and Lena who got "Navy Mom" t-shirts to the siblings who got shirts that said "My sister is in the Navy". Luca was pleasantly surprised when Callie handed him a box since they had agreed no gifts between them (even though he too broke that rule, but he found it funny that Callie broke it too). When he opened the box he pulled out a shirt that said "Married to a sailor" across the front with the Navy symbol on the chest.

"I see you ignored our no gift rule."

Callie shrugged, "I know for a fact that you've been sneaking around for two weeks getting me something so you broke it too. Besides you deserved to have something under the tree from me."

"As long as I get you at the alter in three months I don't care what is under that tree." Callie rolled her eyes, but kissed Luca as he stood up to put the shirt on over his tank top PJ shirt he was still wearing because Stef insisted the kids all wear their PJs to open presents to make it feel more casual and laid back.

After putting on his shirt, Luca reached under the tree to grab one of the last gifts that was left unopened and held it out to Callie.

"So, we talked about how we didn't have many personal ornaments for our tree and I wanted to fix that so I did some research and running around and had this made for you."

Callie took the box and quirked her eyebrow, "you got me an ornament?"

"Just open it nerd, there is more to it than that." Callie smiled and tore away the paper and she eyed the outside of the box to give her some clue as to what kind of ornament her fiancé had given her, but it was a plain brown box. She opened the box and carefully took the ornament out of the protective padding, mindful that the item felt heavy as though it were made of glass or crystal. When the ornament was free from the box, Callie had to look at it for a minute and study it before she realized what it was. The ornament was indeed made out of crystal and had a rattle sitting next to a present etched into the crystal along with the year Callie was born and Baby's First Christmas was written across the bottom of the ornament.

Callie took a minute to fully take in what Luca had just given her, but when she did her eyes glossed over with tears.

"I thought you said you and Mom couldn't find mind."

"We couldn't…so I had one made. I got a lot of weird looks when I requested a year that wasn't this one, but the store made it and I think it turned out nice."

"It turned out beautifully. I can't believe you made this for me." Luca took Callie's free hand and squeezed it. "You deserved to have your ornament just like Jude has his. I know it's not the one your mom had for you, but now we can hang it up every year and remember her." Luca was met with a hard kiss from Callie who still had tears running down her face.

"It's beautiful, thank you."

"I had one made for your moms to keep too so we could each have one on our tree no matter where we live." Luca pointed to the tree and Callie saw a perfect match to the ornament in her hand hanging on the tree.

"I'm glad you broke our rule about no gifts. This is perfect and it definitely made this Christmas special."

 **Ok, so it's terribly short, but the ornament was what I wanted to focus on for this. I'm gonna try to update this story fast cuz if we lose net neutrality we'll probably lose this so I want to get it out there so they can at least get married. Thanks.**


	25. One Last Sleepover

**Trying to get these updates up before we lose net neutrality. Here are the wedding chapters. Let me know if you want to see something special, otherwise I'm gonna try to get them up quickly.**

The next three months flew by and before everyone knew it the rehearsal dinner was upon them and the house was thrown into chaos. The morning of the dinner everyone was awake early for different reasons. Callie and Mariana were doing one last fitting before Mariana wouldn't have time to make changes or adjustments. The boys, Mike and Luca's stepfather were all setting up tables and chairs in the backyard. They weren't having a big party, but they were expecting about 20 people, all of them family from both sides of the family. Luca's mother insisted that they pay for the rehearsal dinner and even though the wedding was being paid for by both families and by money set aside by Jude and Callie's mother, the couple agreed to let Luca's family cover this aspect of the party. To avoid more work and stress Michelle hired a caterer that had worked events at her office over the years and they gave her a discount since they had worked with her before and were happy for the repeat business. That being said, the catering company was there at 10am to set up the food table and bar along with the flatware and dishes.

Stef, Lena, Michelle and Luca's sister were finishing the center pieces they had bought flowers for and once they were put together the younger girls placed them in the middle of each of the 4 tables. Mike and Brandon put together the temporary dance floor that got placed in the center of the backyard and that left the porch to be used by the band that had been hired to play for the night. Callie knew that Jude wanted to sing a song and Brandon would probably play something special too, but she didn't know the specific details and she was absolutely ok with that. She finished trying the drees on and Mariana carefully packed it up to be transported to the hotel the next morning. She and Callie had hair appointments just after lunch so that neither girl would need to fuss with their hair or make up for the evening…thus leaving both bathrooms at the house free for their mothers and brothers to get ready. Luca went to get his hair cut as well so that it would look perfect for the party and for the actual wedding the next day.

The party was set to start around 4pm with a sort of cocktail hour to welcome people as they arrived. Jude was given a free pass to have some champagne if he wanted some since the young man was just shy of his 21st birthday by a couple of months. His mothers just made him promise to be responsible and Jude was so excited for the chance to enjoy the evening in an "adult" way and actually toast his sister's marriage.

By 3:30pm the band was set up, the lights were strung around the backyard and everyone was ready for people to arrive. Luca wore a deep purple button up shirt tucked into black pants and a tie, forging a traditional tuxedo since he would be wearing one for the wedding itself. Callie had found a plum purple dress that matched Luca's shirt and with her hair and make-up done she looked stunning which surprised absolutely no one. Luca's parents arrived first with his sisters and after they arrived people showed up at a steady rate, filtering through the house and into the backyard. Everyone was handed a drink and made small talk while they waited for the food to be ready to serve. Luca's grandparents fawned over Callie, making a big deal over how lucky Luca was to have found such a special young lady. His father's mother seemed to take a special liking to Callie and she managed to pull her aside for a brief moment while Luca spoke to his grandfather about work.

"I love my grandson very much, but he is his father's boy deep down so if he ever gets stubborn you call me and I'll set him straight. I will not have him giving a young lady as special as you a hard time."

"I assure you Mrs. Russo, he has been lovely to me throughout our relationship, even when he's been stubborn, it's come from a good place." The older woman patted Callie hand, "none of that Mrs. Russo stuff, you're family, you call me Victoria or grandma, your choice dear." Luca appeared behind Callie and smiled at the women talking.

"You aren't telling her embarrassing stories about me are you grandma?"

"I'll save that for the wedding darling, tonight you get a pass. I was just warning your bride about your stubbornness thanks to your father."

"I like to think of myself as determined, not stubborn." Victoria winked at Callie, "see what mean." Callie laughed and spotted her grandmother from across the yard and waved her over to join them.

"Victoria, I'd like you to meet one of my grandmothers. This is Stef's mom Sharon. Grandma, this is Luca's grandma, Victoria." Sharon shook the other woman's hand and smiled wide.

"It is so nice to meet you and we must share embarrassing stories about these two." Both women laughed and went off to the bar, leaving Luca and Callie concerned. Luca's grandfather laughed and clapped Luca on the shoulder.

"Good move my boy, the two of them becoming friends plus alcohol. You'll never hear the end of it once they get started." Luca smiled and he and Callie were just happy that both families seemed to be coming together so nicely. The couple made their way around the yard, mingling with family and introducing both sides to each other and taking photos with everyone. Around 4:30 the caterer announced that food would be ready soon so people should find their seats and line up for the buffet. Callie and Luca were first to get food and once everyone had a plate of food they settled in and the conversations started all over again. The band played softly in the background, providing some lovely ambiance to the evening. Once everybody ate and refreshed their drinks a few people began dancing on the small dance floor in the center of the yard. Once Callie and Luca were free from taking photos with everyone they joined in the dancing. Mariana and Jude took it upon themselves to take photos of them dancing and everyone enjoying the party.

Around 6:30 once the sun had gone down and the strings of lights lit up the yard, Brandon went over to the band and signaled for them to wrap up the current song. When they did, he grabbed the microphone and got everyone's attention.

"Excuse me everyone. I hate to interrupt the conversation going on, but there are a few traditions that need to be observed in order to truly consider this a rehearsal dinner. And since we did the actual rehearsal last week, I think we should stick to some traditions and maybe create a few new ones. Tomorrow, my brother will be giving a speech as my sister's best man, but tonight she asked me to say a few words and unbeknownst to her, her husband to be asked Jude and I to each sing a song for the to dance to because he is of the opinion that he can't sing. I think he's lying, but hey it's his wedding so who am I to refuse him."

"A long time ago, during a period of our lives that I'm sure Callie would like to forget she said something that stuck with me for all these years. When she was trying to get a judge to let her stay with us, to let her come home, she said she wanted me to be her big brother. She wanted me to put the fear of God into her boyfriends and she said that when she finally finds a man on this earth that can look her in the eye and tell her he loves her enough to marry her, she wanted me to stand up for her, behind Jude and try to hide the fact that I'm crying." Callie was surprised that Brandon remembered that one comment so many years ago, but tears threatened to fall and Brandon wasn't even close to being done.

"Well, I'd like to think I put the fear of God into Luca when we first met and I'm trying very hard to hold back tears so I can't imagine what tomorrow will look like. She said she wanted me to be her big brother and in that moment, I realized home badly I wanted that very same thing. Well, she got her wish and I got mine too, I am her big brother. She is my kid sister and more than that, she is my best friend." Brandon took a deep breath and pushed tears away from his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Callie and I didn't get to grow up together and for that I will always be a little sad, but we got to spend high school together and we have the rest of our lives to share as siblings and for that I am eternally grateful. I don't have embarrassing stories about her as a child. What I do have is harrowing stories of her sacrificing everything for her baby brother, following a career path that is nothing but hard work and sacrifice and my favorite story has to be the one we are watching play out today and tomorrow. The story of how she met an extraordinary guy who saw how special she was and wanted to give her the world. Luca and I share that goal; we both want to give Callie the world, but what we both need to realize is that if Callie wants the world, she'll just go right out and take it, she doesn't need our help. So instead of offering my sister the world I want to offer her something she went without for many years before I knew her: unwavering, unconditional love and friendship. I want her to have beautiful moments in life and memories that make her smile and more than anything I want to be part of those memories. However, tomorrow some of that responsibility will fall to her husband and that is as it should be, but one thing we remain the same even after tomorrow is over. I will still be her big brother and she will still be my best friend." Brandon's voice shook as he spoke and Callie's eyes were filled with tears as Luca handed her a tissue.

"Callie told me once, that the first night she was in this house she looked at me and I made her feel safe and I was the first man to do that in her whole life. It is every big brother's dream and goal to be a safe place for his baby sister and for the rest of my life if I only do one thing right, I swear in front of all of you here that I will be that safe place for her to come home to whenever she needs it. I will however have to share that job with someone else: I will have to share that job with her husband. But I worked it out, don't worry. Luca will be Callie's safe place and I will be her big brother and maybe you all are saying to yourselves "he is saying big brother a lot, we get it". I'm saying it a lot because I love saying it, I love being a big brother, I love being HER big brother. I want her to know that she can always come to me, no matter how old we are, no matter how many kids we have, no matter the miles between us…I will always be your big brother and you can come to me for anything, call me from anywhere and I will be there for you, that I promise you. I didn't get to love you all the year we were growing up, but you will hold a special place in my heart for the rest of our lives. You were my sister before you were anyone's wife and I just want you to know that I wouldn't let just anyone marry you. Whoever married you was going to have to be a man among men and show me that he was worth being such a crucial part of your life…and Luca has done that. As a man I respect him, as your big brother and his brother in law, I love him and everything he brings to our family."

"You told me several times over the years that you never got to dream about your wedding, about your future. That ends right now. I am going to raise a glass to you, your husband and your future, both together and as an individual. I want all the blessings in this world to find their way to you because no one deserves them more than you do. I want to raise a glass to my baby sister: I may be your big brother, but I will tell you right now, I look up to you as a role model and I have ever since that day in that courtroom. Tonight, I hope I spoke to your heart and you heard how very much I love and respect you and tomorrow it will be my great honor to stand up for you as you marry the only man on this earth good enough for me to call your husband and my brother in law." Brandon swallowed his tears and raised his glass out to the crowd of people.

"To Callie and Luca, may tomorrow start an epic journey for them that is full of love, triumph and family and may we all be blessed enough to witness it. To Callie and Luca." Everyone echoed the sentiment and Callie made her way to where Brandon stood and wrapped him up in a hug and the two of them just sort of cried into each other for a minute. Callie thanked whoever made water-proof mascara and Brandon smiled as she tried to make her make-up look like she didn't just lose her composure.

"You really know how to write a speech big brother."

"My kid sister taught me everything I know."

"I love you, you know that right. I love you so so much."

"I know. I love you more." Callie kissed Brandon's cheek and was about to return to her seat when Luca joined her on the dancefloor. Brandon picked up his guitar.

"Everyone, Luca had asked Jude and I to each sing a song for them to dance to tonight so I am going to kick things off." Brandon played in the band who joined him before he launched into the lyrics. Luca and Callie started to sway to familiar music and Callie had to hand it to her husband to be, he had good taste in music.

 **I found a love for me**

 **Darling, just dive right in and follow my lead**

 **Well, I found a girl, beautiful and sweet**

 **Oh, I never knew you were the someone waiting for me**

 **'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love**

 **Not knowing what it was**

 **I will not give you up this time**

 **But darling, just kiss me slow**

 **Your heart is all I own**

 **And in your eyes you're holding mine**

 **Baby, I'm dancing in the dark**

 **With you between my arms**

 **Barefoot on the grass**

 **Listening to our favorite song**

 **When you said you looked a mess**

 **I whispered underneath my breath**

 **But you heard it,**

 **Darling, you look perfect tonight**

 **Well, I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know**

 **She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I'll share her home**

 **I found a love to carry more than just my secrets**

 **To carry love, to carry children of our own**

Callie was grinning and crying at the same time and Luca held her closer as the words and their meaning hit her fully.

 **We are still kids but we're so in love**

 **Fighting against all odds**

 **I know we'll be alright this time**

 **Darling, just hold my hand**

 **Be my girl, I'll be your man**

 **I see my future in your eyes**

 **Baby, I'm dancing in the dark**

 **With you between my arms**

 **Barefoot on the grass**

 **Listening to our favorite song**

 **When I saw you in that dress**

 **Looking so beautiful**

 **I don't deserve this**

 **Darling, you look perfect tonight**

 **Baby, I'm dancing in the dark**

 **With you between my arms**

 **Barefoot on the grass**

 **Listening to our favorite song**

 **I have faith in what I see**

 **Now I know I have met an angel in person**

 **And she looks perfect**

 **I don't deserve this**

 **You look perfect tonight**

The music faded out and everyone clapped and cheered when Luca and Callie kissed when they stopped dancing. Before they could sit down, Brandon took a seat behind the piano and Jude tuned the guitar as his spoke.

"Evening everybody. I will be making my speech tomorrow and I will warn now, there will be tears. That being said, Luca asked me to find a song that really embodied Callie and their relationship and I found this one and it seemed to fit perfectly."

 **There you stand, opened heart, opened doors**

 **Full of life with a world that's wanting more**

 **But I can see when the lights start to fade**

 **The day is done and your smile has gone away**

 **Let me raise you up**

 **Let me be your love**

 **May I hold you as you fall to sleep**

 **When the world is closing in**

 **And you can't breathe here**

 **May I love you, may I be your shield**

 **When no one can be found**

 **May I lay you down**

 **All I want is to keep you safe from the cold**

 **To give you all that your heart needs the most**

 **Let me raise you up**

 **Let me be your love**

Jude fought back tears as he played and watched his sister do the same as she smiled into her fiancée's should while they danced.

 **May I hold you as you fall to sleep**

 **When the world is closing in**

 **And you can't breathe here**

 **May I love you, may I be your shield**

 **When no one can be found**

 **May I lay you down**

Luca was whispering the lyrics into Callie's ear which made the tears come faster, but all the while the smile never left Callie's face, so they were happy tears: very happy tears.

 **All that's made me is all worth trading**

 **Just to have one moment with you**

 **So I will let go with all that I know**

 **Knowing that you're here with me**

 **For your love is changing me**

 **May I hold you as you fall to sleep**

 **When the world is closing in**

 **And you can't breathe**

 **May I love you, may I be your shield**

 **When no one can be found**

 **May I lay you down**

Jude played the song out and the final notes were met with a standing ovation and once Callie calmed down she tackled her brothers in fierce hugs.

"Those were really beautiful you guys. I can't begin to thank you enough for helping Luca put this on for me."

"You deserve the best Cal, we'll always make sure you get it. Just wait till you see what I'm playing tomorrow." Jude winked at his sister and Callie hugged him again, knowing that whatever song was waiting for her tomorrow would absolutely reduce her to tears as these songs had.

The rest of the night, the band played music for everyone to dance to. Hours later the party died down with everyone realizing that they needed to wake up early for the big day. Family members left to return to their hotels or their homes, leaving Luca, his parents and the Fosters. The clean-up didn't take much since the tables and chairs would be picked up in the morning before they left for the ceremony and everything else was from the caterer. When everything was cleaned up and the band had left Luca and Callie stood next to each other and grew quiet.

"I should get going."

"Not sure why I wanted this tradition of spending the night apart." Callie cursed her planning this months ago.

"I like it. This way when I see you tomorrow it'll be all that more amazing." Luca kissed Callie and held it longer than normal.

"I love you."

"I love you too. I see you tomorrow?" Luca kissed her again and laughed. "I'll be waiting for you my love. Count on it. Goodnight Callie." With a parting kiss, Luca left and said his goodbyes to the Fosters before heading to his parent's house since he would be sleeping there and getting ready there before the limo picked them up the next morning. Callie sighed as she watched the car fade into the night and she finally headed inside and her sibling gave her first shower which she appreciated. She took off her make-up and made sure her hair was clean for the stylist to do the next morning. Mariana went next and soon met Callie in their room.

"Last night sharing this room with me."

"I'm sure we'll have sleepovers again Mariana."

"But tonight is different and you know it. It's special." Callie realized how much this night meant to Mariana and she quickly grabbed her pillow and climbed into bed with her sister, content to share the larger bed with her for the night. Just before they shut off the light they heard someone knock on their door.

"Come in." The door opened and all three boys stood there in their PJs with pillows in hand.

"Family sleepover?" Jude requested and Callie and Mariana nodded, each of them glad their brothers decided to join them. Brandon took Callie's bed and Jesus set up one blow up mattress for Jude, while he was content to make a nest of pillows and blankets to sleep on.

An hour later, when both Lena and Stef were about to go to bed, they decided to look in on the kids and they shouldn't have been surprised to find all their kids sleeping in the girls' room.

"One more night together."

"Our daughter is getting married Stef."

"I know." They looked at their sleeping children and dabbed tears from their eyes.

"We are going to need more tissues for tomorrow."

"Foster-Russo wedding, sponsored by Kleenex."

 **Hopefully you guys liked this. The songs were Perfect by Ed Sheeran and May I by Trading yesterday. Let me know if you want some special in the wedding or reception**.


	26. Walk Me Down The Middle

**Didn't get much feedback in terms of reviews, but thank you to the few people who did and let me know some things that they would like to see. Trying to write this story in a hurry because of the net neutrality stuff so I hope this doesn't seem rushed.**

Callie's alarm woke her up at 8am and she quickly sat up in the bed and it was only when she looked around the room that she realized that the reality of what today was bringing hit her. Seeing her brothers sleeping on the floor, sharing the bed with her sister, spending one last night together under the same roof before she became somebody's wife. Callie smiled to herself before climbing out of bed and rushing through one more shower, careful not to get her hair wet since the hair stylist would be taking care of that once she arrived. When she was out of the shower, Callie dressed in sleep pants and tank top specifically chosen because she could easily take it off over her head with out messing up her hair and make-up later. Callie noticed her mothers' door open and they weren't inside the bedroom so she assumed they were already awake and downstairs. Two steps down the staircase and Callie could smell the coffee brewing and the made her walk a little faster. When she rounded the corner into the kitchen Stef and Lena were both seated at the table sipping coffee.

"Morning sweets, smelled the coffee did you?" Callie smiled as her mother slid a mug to Callie and encouraged Callie to take a seat with them.

"Did you get any sleep last night honey?" Lena and Stef both tossed and turned for a while before falling asleep so they assumed that Callie had done the same.

"I actually slept really well and I'm shocked. I don't usually sleep well when I'm excited."

"Maybe that slumber party you had with your siblings helped you out after all." Callie smiled at the gesture.

"It was nice to be surrounded by them, that's for sure." Callie's memory was interrupted by her phone buzzing with a reminder.

"That's my alarm to eat something for breakfast so I can brush my teeth before hair and make-up get here." Stef waved Callie off and went about making her something to eat.

"Bagel, eggs, pancakes? Bride's choice." Callie smiled at being called a bride. "Eggs and half a bagel please, I'll need the protein and some carbs to power through the day without fainting before we eat at the reception." Stef made the bagel quickly while she made enough eggs for the three of them. They had agreed weeks earlier that everyone save for Callie was responsible for making their own breakfast and eating before they needed to leave for the church.

Callie ate slowly, trying not to shove the food in her mouth to save time. Stef was watching how carefully Callie was eating and yet somehow her hands were trembling slightly.

"Not nervous are you sweets?" Callie put her fork down and sighed.

"I don't know why I'm nervous. I mean, all I have to do is walk in a straight line, say my vows and kiss a man I've been kissing for years."

"Yeah, but this time after you kiss him you'll be his wife, not his girlfriend. It's a different feeling Cal. Even when you've been together forever, getting married changes things…for the better, but it changes. It did when mom and I got married and it'll be similar for you." Lena tried to soothe her daughter's worries and she meant what she said. The word "wife" changed things for them when they got married and while it will mean something different for Callie, the change to her life will be just as big. Callie finished eating and handed Stef her plate.

"I'm gonna go brush my teeth and rinse with mouth wash so I don't taste like cream cheese when he kisses me." Callie dashed upstairs and was fielding texts from the hair and make-up people as she did. They would be there at 9 so Callie had enough time to do her stuff and let Mariana have the bathroom for a few minutes before they needed to be downstairs ready for the women to work on them. When the doorbell rang about half an hour later, it was Callie who answered the door to great the women who would be doing her hair and make-up along with Mariana's. Callie had offered the services to her mothers, but both women insisted that they could get ready themselves and to just get the services for her and her sister. After setting up in the dining room, Callie took a seat and let the hair stylist begin to section out her hair in order to flat iron it and begin to style it according to the picture she had been given. Mariana sat in a different chair with the make-up artist and she began her work so that eventually the girls would switch and have both hair and make-up done by the time they left.

Upstairs was chaotic with all three boys trying to be dressed by the time they had to leave. Mariana would put on her dress right before they left and Callie would put hers on at the church to avoid any problems. Brandon had woken up first so he got the first shower, leaving Jude and Jesus to fight over the remaining bathroom time they had. While the boys got their suits on, their mothers did their own hair and make-up in their bedroom before putting on the clothes they would wear at the ceremony. Both women had gone back and forth between wearing a dress or a suit, but ultimately Lena decided to stick to a dress and Stef went with a suit. At 10:30 Stef poked her head into the other bathroom to check on the boys and saw that for the most part they were dressed and were just putting on their ties and styling their hair which mostly meant slicking it back with gel.

"Boys, 30 minutes and we need to be in the limo. If you're late, you can deal with your sister." She walked downstairs and saw that Mariana was done with her hair and make-up and was about to go into the bathroom to put her dress on.

"You look beautiful sweets. Just make sure you are ready to go in…"

"30 minutes, I know. Believe I've been sitting with the bride for an hour and a half, I know what time it is." Mariana laughed as she went into the bathroom to change, leaving her mother to watch Callie get finishing touches on her make-up. Her eyes were shut as the artist finished touching up her eye shadow. Stef didn't realize how long she was standing there, just looking at her daughter until she heard Callie calling for her.

"Mom. What do think? Does it look good?" Stef looked at Callie's hair and make-up and it wasn't until that moment that it truly hit her that her child was getting married. With some tears in her eyes Stef smiled.

"It looks lovely, you look lovely." Callie smiled and thanked the two stylists that helped them and she quickly paid them so they could pack up their tools and leave before the family would need to be leaving themselves. Callie rushed around downstairs collecting a few last minute things she needed and Stef kept offering to help, but Callie was in her own world.

"Callie!" Stef finally snapped Callie back into reality and made her sit down.

"Honey you are gonna sweat off that make-up they just put on. Relax. We have everything packed, your sister has your dress, everyone else is ready to go. As soon as the limo gets here we'll be on our way alright?" Callie nodded her head and looked off at nothing in particular.

"What if I'm bad at it?"

"Bad at what honey?"

"Being married, being his wife." Stef sat Callie down on the couch and took a seat opposite her daughter.

"Honey, I've seen the two of you together over the past few years and there is no doubt in my mind that you will be a fantastic wife. You guys love each other too much for your marriage to be anything other than beautiful. It may not always be easy and you might fight sometimes, but the love never goes away. I know how big of a heart you have Callie, I've seen it a thousand times over and that alone is going to make you an amazing wife and one day an equally amazing mother." Callie nodded her head and smiled, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"Am I going to feel this nervous all day?" Stef smiled and kissed her daughter's hairline, careful not to touch the make-up.

"It'll go away when you see him and actually say I do. Then you can enjoy yourself, I promise." Stef stood up when Mariana entered the room and gushed over how beautiful she looked in the plum colored dress. The limo arrived slightly early which was perfect since it gave Mariana time to put the dress in the trunk along with Callie's shoes and the collection of other things they would need to finish getting her ready at the church. Stef called upstairs for the boys to get downstairs and to have all their things with them. Lena went around to make sure the house was locked up tight and once Mariana assured Callie that there was nothing left in the house they needed they managed to convince her to get in the limo before the rest of the family piled in. During the car ride Callie looked over to Jude at one point and seemed to be asking him a question without saying anything out loud. Jude smiled, nodded and took out an envelope from his suit jacket pocket and held it up for Callie to see before putting it back in the pocket. The traffic wasn't as bad as it normally was so it only took them about 30 minutes to get to the church. The boys helped unpack the limo so that all Callie's things were in the bridal suite. Mariana carried the dress in herself, insisting that the boys would drop it or let it drag. With everything set up the boys went to go check that everything in the church itself was ready for pictures, leaving Mariana to help Callie get into her dress that everyone was finally going to be able to see.

Stef and Lena waited behind the dressing partition for the girls to finish and the photographers were standing by for reaction shots. After about 15 minutes Mariana stuck her head out and smiled.

"You guys ready to see it?" Stef and Lena stood up and nodded. "We've been waiting for 9 months to see it so yes I think we are ready." Mariana motioned for Callie to step out from behind the partition and when she did Mariana was pretty sure she heard both her mothers take a sharp breath and hold it…which was totally the perfect reaction that she was going for. Of course, both women started to tear up as they fawned over how beautiful the dress was. For what it was worth, Mariana did an amazing job. The dress was just long enough to touch the ground when Callie wore her heels, it had an empire waist and had a fine lace overlay that allowed for Mariana to put some shiny elements throughout the gown. The gown had a matching head piece that allowed for a veil to trail behind Callie and fall just below her waist.

"Clean up pretty good don't I?" Lena stepped forward and gently held Callie's hands in her own.

"You look stunning, just beautiful. Your sister did a really marvelous job making that, but you look so happy in it that it makes it that much better." Lena kissed Callie gently on her forehead, again careful to not ruin her make-up. Just as Stef was about to echo Lena's sentiments there was a knock at the door and they could hear Jude calling from the other side.

"Cal, Mariana texted me that you are in the dress and I can see it." Callie nodded for Mariana to go ahead and open the door. Jude was fixing his tie when he walked in and wasn't immediately aware of his sister in the dress, but when he looked up his hands stilled and he forgot all about his tie. Jude looked his sister up and down and when he finished he opened his mouth to say how beautiful his sister looked, but nothing came out, but tears sprang to his eyes and with a big smile Jude started crying without any care that he was being photographed.

He took a few steps towards Callie, closing the distance between them so that he was within arm's length of his sister. He ran his hand over his face and covered his smile as he took in the sight of his big sister in her wedding dress. After a few moments of opening and closing his mouth, trying to find words he finally managed to choke out in a broken but happy voice, "you look beautiful…really, really beautiful. You are easily the most beautiful bride I've ever seen."

Callie smiled, tears threatening to fall, "and just how many brides have you seen that I can be compared to?"

"You can't be compared to anyone period. You've always been extraordinary…today you're just extraordinarily beautiful." Jude tucked a stray hair behind Callie's ear. "Mom would be so happy to be here Cal and if anyone deserves a perfect wedding day it's you." Callie held it together until Jude mentioned their mother, at which point she let Jude wrap her up in a hug and she softly cried into his jacket. The photographer caught the moment to be forever remembered in film as the two siblings held each other in both celebration and sorrow. As Callie pulled away Jude kissed her forehead, a moment also caught in a photo. Mariana pulled up the touch up make-up kit to fix the problems with Callie's make up caused by the crying. Before she could touch Callie's face, Jude stopped her.

"You might want to wait a minute Mariana." Jude took the envelope from his jacket pocket and held it up for Callie to see.

"We should probably do this now so Mariana can fix your make-up just once." Stef recognized the envelope in her son's hand as one of the letters that their birth mother had left behind for them to read on major occasions.

"Callie, we can leave you two alone if you'd like some privacy."

"No, please. She would want me to share my day with my family…the whole day and that includes this letter. Can you read it for me buddy?" Jude nodded and unearthed the paper from the aging envelope. He took a deep breath and began to read.

"Callie, my darling daughter. Of all the days I am missing, this one breaks my heart the most. To see your child happy and in love, to see them with someone who loves them with their whole heart is a day parents dream of because for the first time you are witnessing your child being loved by someone who loves them just as fiercely as you do. As promised, I'll be there in spirit which I know is not the same as being there in person, but know that my heart and my love will surround you as you marry this special person who has stolen your heart. I don't pretend to know if you'll be marrying a man or a woman and to be frank, I don't care. From the moment you entered this world to the moment I'll leave it, all I wanted for you was for you to find love…someone to love you and be you constant supporter and best friend through life."

"This day should be all about love, joy and family and don't you dare let my absence take away from one second of that. Enjoy getting dressed, enjoy being fussed over, enjoy the little moments that seem to be insignificant, but really mean everything. I hope your brother is with you and more than anything I hope he is the one walking you down the aisle. Take a minute before you take that walk…I don't care if you stand there in silence or if you repeat how much you love each other, but cherish that moment and walk with purpose, knowing that if you falter in your steps, your brother will no doubt be ready to catch you. My marriage is perhaps not the best thing to base your's on, but take this advice from me as a mother: learn to forgive the small things he or she does to make you mad, don't let the sun go down on your anger (if you fight, finish the fight and forgive each other), and above all else remember that this person has seen the real you and that person they see is dazzling in their eyes. I hope your marriage is full of beautiful moments and one day I hope you get to feel the immense joy of a nurse putting your child in your arms. Do not mourn my absence today because I said, I will be there…I wouldn't miss this day for the world. You'll always be my baby, but today you start your journey as being someone's wife and I hope the journey is everything you ever dreamt of and every bit as beautiful as you deserve. Save a dance for me, dry your tears and go enjoy that walk with your brother. Tell him to kiss you once for me before he lets go of your arm. I love you always and am forever proud of the woman you've become, because I don't doubt for a second that you grew up to be a woman that is anything less than extraordinary. All my love, Mom."

Jude folded the letter back into the envelope and as he brushed tears from his eyes he offered his handkerchief to Callie to dry her eyes.

"Mom definitely gave us her gift of words. You ok?" Callie nodded and handed the handkerchief back to Jude.

"I'm glad we read it together and mom had some scary good future telling abilities to know you'd walk me down the aisle."

"I think it's what she wanted to witness and deep down she knew she never would, but she wanted us to have that walk. We would do well to not disappoint her." Jude smiled and winked at his sister who cracked a smile and that ended her tears.

"You think you'll be able to let me go?" Jude looked at Callie in a dead serious way, "never, but I am however willing to share you." Callie kissed Jude's cheek and held his face in her hands.

"You are one hell of a little brother, you know that right?"

"I was raised by my awesome big sister so yeah, I know." Mariana jumped in and made Callie sit down so she could fix the little problems with her make-up…seriously God bless the person who invented water-proof mascara and fake eye lashes. When that was finished, the photographer got the ok to take some pictures outside and inside the church with the family/wedding party. Soon Callie was ushered back into the suite so that Luca could do the same with the second photographer. The whole family waited in the bridal suite and everyone made sure to continually praised Mariana for her flawless work on Callie's dress. Twenty minutes before the wedding was due to start Brandon, Mariana and Jesus went out to make sure everyone was finding their seats and Stef and Lena went to make sure everything was on track, but Jude and Callie weren't alone long. A quick knock at the door was followed by Sharon entering the bridal suite.

"Well look at you! You look beautiful and you better get used to hearing that today missy." Callie smiled and blushed as her grandmother handed her a thin box.

"Grandma, you promised no more gifts."

"Don't worry honey, this is more of a loan." Callie opened the box and found a lace handkerchief that clearly was made a long time ago.

"Some people make their kid's christening gowns into handkerchiefs to be used on their wedding day. My mother had this made for me, we couldn't find Stef's for her wedding so she borrowed mine and since we don't have yours I thought that maybe you'd like to continue the tradition and borrow this for the day." Callie smiled and held the handkerchief to her chest.

"I'd be honored, thanks grandma."

"You got it doll. I should go grab my seat, I think things are gonna be underway soon." Sharon kissed Callie once more before leaving the room, leaving Jude and Callie alone.

"You're gonna make sure I don't fall flat on my face right?" Jude nodded and smiled. "Callie, you held me up for my whole childhood, you bet I'm gonna hold you up for a few minutes before I let you go get married." Callie put her hand on top of Jude's and squeezed it.

"You know I love you right?"

"I've known that all my life Cal, you made sure of that. You know I love you just as much right? Callie kissed her brother's hand and smiled wide.

"I have felt loved by you every single moment of your life."

"Good, then that's settled." I hear the music changing up which means you and I should be getting ready to take that walk." Jude stood up from his seat and held out his hand for his sister. Jude heard Brandon knock on the door saying they were ready. Jude opened the door and guided Callie outside the suite before shutting the door behind them. Callie heard the music change to the music her mothers and Luca's parents would be walking into. They watched from a few feet away as Michelle, Lena and Stef were escorted into the church, followed by Mariana walking in on her own. Jude stood behind the doors that led into the main part of the church as they waited for the main processional music to be played and he felt Callie grip tighten on his arm. He put her free hand over Callie's arm and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Take a breath Cal, he's gonna be there and I've got you."

"I have to say this before I walk through those doors. You grew up to be the most amazing man I've ever met, maybe second to Luca. I didn't do that Jude, you did. You have the most amazing heart and you love people so much that it makes me honored that I've gotten the chance to love you your entire life. I love you and I know I've said that a lot today, but I never want you to forget it. I love you so so much. And…you are the only person I trust to love me enough to walk me down this aisle and have the courage to let me go get married." Jude swallowed back tears and whispered into Callie's ear.

"There hasn't been one day of my life where you haven't been my hero and that will never change. You inspire me to be a better man Cal, THAT you did do. Being your baby brother and being loved by you has been my greatest joy and you have no idea how hard it is going to be to let go of your arm in a few moments, but just remember one thing."

"What's that?"

"I loved you first…but you found the ONE man I am willing to share you with. I love you Cal." Callie caught a tear before it fell down her face and she kissed her brother once more before they heard the music change. They had practiced walking in to this music and the way it built up, they had decided that Jude would stand in front of Callie until the song hit a certain note, at which point he would side step and reveal Callie and her dress, grabbing her arm in the process. The doors opened and Jude stood still as a statue with a proud smile on his face as he looked out at the congregation of friend, family and co-workers. When the song hit that high note Jude confidently stepped to the side and effectively revealed Callie to the masses. Gasps could be heard throughout the room, but Callie felt it all melt away the second she linked her arm with Jude's and took a tentative step forward. For the first few feet, Callie couldn't see Luca and a part of her panicked, but a few steps further and that issue was resolved. The second she saw her fiancée the tears started again and she gripped Jude's arm tighter.

"I'm right here Cal, just breathe."

For his part in all this, Luca was a mess until he could see Callie walking toward him. Then he caught sight of his bride and after a moment of shock the tears began on his end. His step-father put a hand on his shoulder to ground him in the moment, but the tears stayed and freely flowed down his face. He had seen Callie walk into rooms thousands of time, but this time she would be leaving as his wife and that alone had him a mess of tears. It didn't help that Callie looked beautiful and he felt as though he was looking directly at an angel…he didn't care how cheesy that sounded.

Stef and Lena watched from their seats as Jude and Callie got to the end of the aisle and they could both see the struggle Jude was going through having to physically let Callie go. To his credit, Jude did as his mother had asked and kissed his sister an extra time before shaking Luca's outstretched hand and gently placing Callie's in his. Jude took his position behind his sister and in front of Brandon and with a full heart and eyes brimming with tears he watched as the ceremony started.

 **So I'm gonna try and keep updating this until we lose net neutrality so I'll do the ceremony and the reception soon so that at least those will be up. Any feedback is great.**


	27. Husband and Wife

As Jude took his spot, the priest looked to him and asked, "who gives this woman to be married to this man?"

Jude rolled his eyes because his sister wasn't cattle being given to anybody, but he knew that this is how this kind of thing went and had practiced his response of, "our mothers and I do." Jude winked at Callie who turned back to face Luca, thankful that her baby brother was being so supportive of her wishes on this day.

The ceremony began with the priest saying a few things about knowing Luca since he was a baby and seeing him grow into the man that was before him today ready to take somebody to be his wife. He spoke about marriage and what it means to those who enter into it, the hard work it requires and the unwavering love that carries a couple through. After talking for a while the priest addressed the congregation.

"I am told that Luca and Callie have written their own vows. Callie will begin with hers." Jude handed his sister a folded up piece of paper and with hands shaking Callie began to read.

"When I was growing up I never dreamed of this day, of what it would feel like to be getting married and I told myself I wasn't missing out on anything. Today I know what I was missing all those years I wasn't dreaming of this day. But even if I had dreamed, the most important part of today would have been missing. You would have been missing. The day you asked me out I felt my stomach flip and I was hesitant to say yes, knowing how much men had hurt me in my past. But I said yes because something inside me was screaming that you were different, that you would be different and that you were. Our first date ended in bloodshed and yet somehow, in the darkness of night, in the glow of ambulance lights, you asked me on a second date and that's when I knew just how special you were. Most guys would've taken off at the first sign of trouble, but you stayed and more than that you fought for me, my safety, my joy. I found myself feeling drawn to you in a way I never thought I would feel toward a man ever. I trusted you completely and you slowly but surely stole my heart. You came into my family and you just fit in like you had been there the whole time. You loved and respected my mothers, you understood all too well the ache in my heart over the mother I lost many years earlier. You promised my siblings that you wouldn't break my heart and more than that you proved to my baby brother that I was safe with you…no easy task. My life with you has made me feel blessed in every sense of the word. We fight, but we make up. We make mistakes, but we fix them. We follow crazy dreams and we do it together. I want a lifetime of that. I want to follow you as you follow every crazy dream you have and I want you with me when I chase after mine. I know that my job scares you, sometimes it scares me too, but you were there for all my trainings, graduations and deployments and you have shown me that I could brave hell and you would be right there next to me. There are a thousand reasons why I love you, but in truth, the most important one is that when I'm with you, when its quiet and everything is still, I can physically feel how much you love me and I feel safe, loved and cherished. You are the dream I never got to have and I promise that all our lives together will be loud and crazy, but if you'll walk with me, I'll follow where you lead. I love you and the life you have given me is better than any dream and for that I cannot thank you enough. I love you and I like you." Callie winked at Luca when she ended the vow with a line from their favorite show.

Luca was grinning like an idiot when Callie finished and he brushed some tears from his eyes. He reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a few note cards with his vows written on them.

"I tried to start these vows so many times and everything I had to say sounded dumb. I kept telling myself you deserved better words, more impactful statements and declarations of love. I tried over and over again to write vows that were almost lyrical, but then I realized I was never going to be able to do that. Music and words have always been your gift, not so much mine. However, I know enough words to tell you how much I love you. That first day I met you, I was so sure you would say no to a date with me and when you said yes, I didn't know what to do with myself. Every day since then has been this incredible adventure and I don't know what I did to deserve spending my life with such an amazing person as my wife. I've seen how fiercely you love your family, how you would sacrifice literally everything for your younger brother. I know how much you've been hurt and all I wanted to do was take that pain away from you, carry it for you and spare you from feeling that pain ever again. I can't promise that we won't ever feel the sting that comes from loss or from being hurt, but I can promise you that you will never walk that path alone. You have taught me more about love, forgiveness and family than I ever thought possible and you made me a part of your family, a gift that I feel truly blessed to have been given. You have supported all my dreams and more importantly you constantly encouraged me to work harder to achieve them. I work hard because you inspire me to just by doing your job. You put your life on the line every day you go to work and while it scares me to death I am so proud of what you do and how you do it that I am more than willing to live with the fear that comes from marrying the military. You taught me the beauty that lives in simply being with loved ones, you've cried with me over a shared loss of loved ones and you've given me hope that our love will grow and expand and one day include children of our own with whom you can share your amazing capacity to love with. You have given me so much just by loving me and I promise you that for the rest of our lives I will do all I can to show you love and compassion beyond your wildest dreams. When I was little I didn't understand how my father could have fallen in love with my mother just by meeting her once, but now…all these years later, after meeting you, I know exactly how he must of felt because I felt the same way that day I met you at the pool. Our lives may not always be perfect, but I promise you that together we will make it beautiful and one thing we will never want for is love." Luca looked at Callie through teary eyes and he gently took her hands in both of his as the priest went on.

"Callie, take the ring and as you place it on Luca's finger repeat after me." Jude handed his sister the wedding band and she began to gently slip it on Luca's ring finger. Callie followed the priest as he spoke and she repeated, "I, Callie, take you Luca, to be my lawfully wedded husband, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, through good times and bad, till death do us part." With the ring securely placed on Luca's finger, he turned to his step father who handed him Callie's wedding band.

"I Luca, take you Callie, to be my lawfully wedded wife, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, through good times and bad, till death do us part." Wide smiles spread across both of their faces as they kept their hand interlocked.

"Then if there are no objections to this union…by the power vested in me by the Church and the state of California I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride." Luca pulled Callie towards him and gently kissed her while the church erupted in applause and whistling.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to introduce to you as the first time as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Luca Russo."

 **So it was short, but I wanted to get to the reception. Plus with net neutrality being voted out at this stage, I wanted to speed things along. Let me know what you want to see in the reception and I will try and work it in.**


	28. Raised Glasses and Falling Tears

The hotel had done an amazing job setting up the reception and by the time the wedding party arrived everything was in place and people were being ushered their seats. The families were lined up outside the ballroom and the DJ announced them one by one, beginning with Luca's younger sisters, followed by his mother and step father, then Stef and Lena: the twins, Brandon and Jude were announced as Callie's wedding party, leaving the newly married couple in the hallway. They were given a few moments to themselves before they were announced by the DJ and the doors opened and they were ushered into a room full of cheering and applause. People were given the chance to eat their meals while the DJ played some filer music. Callie knew that speeches would happen before first dances and she tried to prepare herself for her and Luca's families no doubt beautiful words. The DJ handed a microphone to Stef who would be speaking on behalf of her and Lena for their speech to the couple.

"Good afternoon everybody. My wife and I would like to thank you all for coming to my daughter's wedding and celebrating this beautiful day with us and our families. If you know Callie and Luca, well, you know that they have a way with words that not many people in this room can touch. With that said, Lena and I wanted to say a few things on our daughter's wedding day so we tried our hand at speech writing. When we adopted Callie, I think both Lena and I assumed that we would have more time with her as our daughter before she fell in love and became somebody's wife, but then Luca kind of stumbled into our lives and never left: a blessing we are forever grateful for. We don't have embarrassing stories of Callie from when she was small, but what we do have is a lot of memories that got made starting from the first night we met her all the way up to today. Memories of loud family dinners, graduations, the occasional funeral and parties for no particular reason. Those are the things Lena and I wish for Luca and Callie: loud family dinners, graduations, limited amounts of funerals and parties for absolutely no reason at all. We've seen the journey our kids have been on to get to this moment and we know the sacrifices and struggles they were met with and we got to see them rise above all of it and make it here today, stronger and better for the experience. Most parents will tell you that they were afraid of being replaced by their child's partner, but Lena and I never felt like that towards Luca. From the moment we met him he felt more like one of our boys than he did some teenage boy who wanted to date my daughter. He proved himself to be strong, not just physically, but emotionally and he showed all my boys that real men absolutely cry and they hug, sometimes both at the same time."

"Not every moment in married life is easy. Some days are hard, some days you fight with each other, some days are just plain awful. That being said, the good days, in my experience, outnumber the bad and you end up celebrating more than mourning. Lena and I have tried to give our children, all our children, advice on how to live and find their happiness. We didn't get to raise Callie from a baby, but she's our baby and because of that she was taught to pursue her dreams, work hard and let love into her heart when it presents itself. The result is the young woman sitting next to her husband who has an incredible capacity to love and forgive. She let love into her heart when she let us adopt her and she did it again when she met Luca and Lena and I are forever grateful for both of those moments when Callie let love speak louder than her fears. We would like to toast to Callie and Luca: may you both continue to find love and friendship within your marriage and may your good days always outshine your bad ones. To Callie and Luca." Stef raised her beer and other people followed, saluting the newlyweds.

As Stef sat down, Luca's mother stood up and Callie placed a comforting hand on her husband's knee, knowing full well that his mind went straight to thinking about what it would be like if his father were here to make this speech. Luca smiled as he listened to his mother because at the end of the day he knew how much he was loved by her and that they both lost the same person. If anyone had the right to stand up and speak at his wedding, it was the woman who raised him to be just like his father, while encouraging him to be his own man.

"I promised my son to keep this speech brief, because if I talk too long I'll just end up a mess of tears and no one needs to see me cry more today. Since Luca was my first baby I didn't ever really dream of his wedding like I do with my daughters, I guess it just never seemed like something you needed to worry about when you had a son. You didn't have to worry about seating charts, destinations, receptions and flowers because you assumed his wife would want to handle those details. I didn't take into account that my son is a very unique individual who never followed any path that society laid out before him and he only listened to my advice about half the time if I was lucky." Michelle winked at her son and everyone laughed.

"When Luca met Callie, I saw a change in him right away, even on that first day after they met. He smiled more, fought less with his sisters, hell, he even did better in school all because he was happy because this one girl agreed to a date with him. But then, Callie was never just any girl, she was something special and Luca saw it from the jump. I met Callie under interesting circumstances to say the least, but even in the ER the night I met her, I saw exactly what my son had seen in her. I saw a radiance that came from within, a loyalty that was unwavering and a heart so full of love that she was willing to sacrifice herself to save others. I began to see traits in Luca come out that reminded me so much of his father it was scary. At the same time, it was nice to see that spirit come alive again and it was so special to watch Luca literally fall in love with Callie…because lets face it, my boy fell face first for Callie and we've all watched it happen." Again, every laughed and Luca smiled at his mother and wrapped his arm around Callie as his mother finished.

"When I found out that Luca had gone to our bank and looked at our safety deposit box, I knew things were getting serious. Sitting in that box was my engagement ring from my marriage to Luca's father and that ring had spent many years locked away in the dark, with Luca having been told by me to only take it out for the girl who deserved to wear it. I can say without fear that Callie is absolutely the girl who deserves to wear that ring. That ring meant everything to me when my first husband gave it to me and I had hoped it would mean just as much to Luca when the time came. When that day finally did come, I could see in his eyes that he loved his fiancée with as much passion as his father had for me so many years earlier when he gave me that ring. I told Callie that the ring was finally where it belongs and I believe that still. My husband would have loved to have seen this day and I like to believe that he's here despite being gone from our touch. He taught Luca to love with his whole heart and today it was something truly special to see that whole heart be given to Callie in that ceremony. I said before that I never planned my son's wedding in my head…I never worried about another woman coming to take my place and I'm glad I didn't. The wedding and this reception is beyond what I could have dreamt of for my son and his wife and never have I been more willing to share my son's love than I am today as I look at him and his new bride. I don't feel replaced, I feel like I gained another daughter and I feel as though our family has grown exponentially larger by adding Callie's family to ours. Our family is now, bigger and louder and even a bit crazier and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for our family and the family my son and his wife will create together. To Callie and Luca."

Everyone raised their glasses and again toasted the new couple and when they had all settled back down again Michelle got their attention once more.

"Everyone, before we get to the speech from Callie's best man and the couple's first dance we wanted to have the dance with the parents. Callie and her mothers will go first."

Callie got up from her table and met her mothers on the dance floor. They had practiced how to seperte this dance so that each mom got a moment alone with Callie and then they would all dance together, in much the same way they had at the twins birthday party years earlier.

The music started and Lena broke away from Stef and held Callie close to her as they started to dance.

 **Although you see the world different than me**

 **Sometimes I can touch upon the wonders that you see**

 **All the new colors and pictures you've designed**

 **Oh yes, sweet darling**

 **So glad you are a child of mine**

 **Child of mine, child of mine**

 **Oh yes, sweet darling**

 **So glad you are a child of mine**

Stef quickly switched places with Lena when it was her turn to dance with Callie.

 **You don't need direction, you know which way to go**

 **And I don't want to hold you back, I just want to watch you grow**

 **You're the one who taught me you don't have to look behind**

 **Oh yes, sweet darling**

 **So glad you are a child of mine**

 **Child of mine, child of mine**

 **Oh yes, sweet darling**

 **So glad you are a child of mine**

At this point all three women were dancing in a sort of circle with both mothers with their arms around Callie.

 **Nobody's gonna kill your dreams**

 **Or tell you how to live your life**

 **There'll always be people to make it hard for a while**

 **But you'll change their heads when they see you smile**

 **The times you were born in may not have been the best**

 **But you can make the times to come better than the rest**

 **I know you will be honest if you can't always be kind**

 **Oh yes, sweet darling**

 **So glad you are a child of mine**

 **Child of mine, child of mine,**

 **Oh yes, sweet darling**

 **So glad you are a child of mine**

 **Child of mine, child of mine**

 **Oh yes, sweet darling**

 **So glad you are a child of mine**

Luca and his mother danced to an instrumental song that was special to both of them when Luca was growing up. When they were done the DJ took the microphone and announced that they would now be having the couple's first dance before they had a special presentation by the bride's family. Callie looked confused and shot her brother a look to question what he had probably done and Jude did nothing but smile as his sister was led to the dance floor by Luca. The music started and things finally started to fade away and calm down for Callie, allowing her to enjoy this moment with her husband.

 **Somethin' in your eyes, makes me wanna lose myself**

 **Makes me wanna lose myself, in your arms**

 **There's somethin' in your voice, makes my heart beat fast**

 **Hope this feeling lasts, the rest of my life**

 **If you knew how lonely my life has been**

 **And how long I've been so alone**

 **And if you knew how I wanted someone to come along**

 **And change my life the way you've done**

Both the bride and groom had goofy grins on their faces as they danced and the picture that came from it were adorable.

 **It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me**

 **It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from**

 **It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me**

 **It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong**

 **A window breaks, down a long, dark street**

 **And a siren wails in the night**

 **But I'm alright, 'cause I have you here with me**

 **And I can almost see, through the dark there is light**

 **Well, if you knew how much this moment means to me**

 **And how long I've waited for your touch**

 **And if you knew how happy you are making me**

 **I never thought that I'd love anyone so much**

 **It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me**

 **It feels like I'm all the way the back where I come from**

 **It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me**

 **It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong**

 **It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong**

The song ended and Callie gave Luca a quick kiss before they were both allowed to take their seat. The second Callie sat down, Jude stood up from his seat and took the microphone from the stand near the DJ.

"I bet you all thought we were done with speeches, but alas here I am. For those of you who work with Callie or Luca and don't know who I am, my name is Jude and I am Callie's youngest brother. When Callie asked me to be her best man my first reaction was to cry because it's a pretty powerful moment to have your big sister ask you to be her best man. My second reaction was to panic internally because of having to write this very speech. Some of you know that my sister and I have a way with words, which would lead you to think that this speech would be a piece of cake for me to write and deliver, but that isn't the case. Callie was always the one to know the right thing to say in moments of extreme joy or tremendous sorrow and growing up we didn't have too many moments of extreme joy, so she was left with the tall task of making sure her kid brother still believed in the good in the world and in people. When she was still a child herself, she taught me all about moral integrity, right from wrong, the importance of being honest and perhaps most importantly, she taught me to love and keep my heart open no matter how many times it got bruised. Bruised, but never broken…she made sure of that. Without going into a lot of unpleasant memories, I will say that from a young age, my sister raised me with the love and compassion that any mother would show her child. She put me first, always, unless she saw danger, then she pushed me behind her and took the full force of whatever was about to hit."

"But we're here today with our family, our whole family, so clearly our story took a happy turn for the better somewhere along the way. We found a home and the people who were always meant to be our family, the people who were destined to love us. When the dust settled and the ink dried on our adoption papers, my sister stopped needing to be my mother too and we were left to redefine our relationship. It wasn't that hard to do. Cuz you see, my sister doesn't love me any less than she did all those years ago. She'd still jump in front of a moving train to save me. She'd sacrifice whatever it took of herself to make sure I was happy, save and loved. So yes, the relationship changed, but the love remained steadfast and unshaken. That same love had me standing at the end of church pews today, holding my sister's arm, walking her down the aisle, trying desperately not to fall apart totally. See, being her best man was one thing, but giving her away…well even calling it that felt awful to me. I'd brave hell for my sister so I sure as hell wasn't going to just give her away…but I was very interested in taking that walk with her, in supporting her on the happiest day of her life and helping her take the final steps to get to the man she loves. I've seen my sister in her darkest hour and today it brings me an impossible amount of joy to say that I got to witness, with all of you, her brightest and most triumphant moment."

"Alexander Dumas writes in The Count of Monte Cristo, 'There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life.' My sister has felt the deepest grief anyone can feel when she laid our mother to rest at the age of 8 and the moments that followed it were dark times indeed, but, as promised by Mr. Dumas, supreme happiness found my sister and today she is sitting right next to the man who made sure that happiness stayed alive in her heart and has promised to do so for the rest of their lives together. My sister knows the ache that death leaves in its wake and the one thing it has taught her, taught us both, is that life is that much more beautiful because it is a gift that doesn't last forever and there are no guarantees. Today, I would like to thank my sister publically for all she has done for me and swear to her that my love and loyalty to her is unwavering, no matter how old we get or who we marry…some things change, but how much I love my sister never will. I am happy beyond words to see how much Luca loves my sister and I am happy to report that I have a heart overflowing with love for my brother in law…a man who did not have to take the time to develop a relationship with me, but he did from the first moment I met him. For that reason, and for a million others, I trust this man to love my sister in tragedy and in triumph for all the days of their lives. I'd like to propose a toast to my sister and her husband: may their lives be blessed and may they never know a day where they don't know the road that leads them home. To Callie and Luca."

Callie had been tearful through all the speeches, but of course Jude's caused the dam to break totally and tears were steadily streaming down her face. She left Luca's side and met her brother as he stepped onto the dance floor. She ignored his outstretched hand and instead wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug that he gladly returned. Callie pulled back, took her brother's head in her hands and brought their foreheads together.

"You know I love you right."

"You might have mentioned it once or twice. I love you too." He kissed Callie's head and motioned to Mariana to help Callie fix her make up before they had their special dance. The DJ didn't announce anything before the dance, Callie and Jude both felt like it wasn't needed. When Callie was ready, Jude cued the DJ who began the music, promoting Jude to take his sister in his arms and begin to dance with her.

 **Look at the two of you dancing that way**

 **Lost in the moment and each other's face**

 **So much in love you're alone in this place**

 **Like there's nobody else in the world**

 **I was enough for her not long ago**

 **I was her number one**

 **She told me so**

 **And she still means the world to me**

 **Just so you know**

 **So be careful when you hold my girl**

 **Time changes everything**

 **Life must go on**

 **And I'm not gonna stand in your way**

 **But I loved her first and I held her first**

 **And a place in my heart will always be hers**

 **From the first breath she breathed**

 **When she first smiled at me**

 **I knew the love of a father runs deep**

 **And I prayed that she'd find you someday**

 **But it's still hard to give her away**

 **I loved her first**

Neither sibling cared that the song mentioned the love of a father and their birth father was no great prize. They took the song to be more symbolic than anything else and it had been said early and often that Jude did, in fact, love Callie first.

 **How could that beautiful woman with you**

 **Be the same freckle-faced kid that I knew**

 **The one that I read all those fairy tales to?**

 **And tucked into bed all those nights?**

 **And I knew the first time I saw you with her**

 **It was only a matter of time**

 **But I loved her first and I held her first**

 **And a place in my heart will always be hers**

 **From the first breath she breathed**

 **When she first smiled at me**

 **I knew the love of a father runs deep**

 **And I prayed that she'd find you someday**

 **But it's still hard to give her away**

 **I loved her first**

 **From the first breath she breathed**

 **When she first smiled at me**

 **I knew the love of a father runs deep**

 **Someday you might know what I'm going through**

 **When a miracle smiles up at you**

 **I loved her first**

The music faded out and Callie snuggled into Jude's chest and they stayed wrapped up in each other for a while, no one daring to interrupt them. This time Jude let go and instead of leading Callie back to her seat, he gestured to Jesus who brought a chair out so that she would be sitting in the dead center of the dance floor. Before Callie could ask what was going on, Jude took the mic from the DJ.

"Hi again everybody. I promise this isn't a speech. Today we talked about the people who couldn't be with us today because they left us far too soon. One of those people is our birth mother and I wanted to make sure that Callie felt her presence here today as much as possible, not as a reminder of what we lost, but as a reminder of where we came from and the woman who loved us enough to brave an uncertain future just to give us better lives. I put this slideshow together for Callie and maybe for myself too. I changed a few lyrics for it to make sense and I hope you all enjoy. Jude stood in front of the mic stand and the instrumental version of the song began to play behind him allowing him to sing.

 **When the sun goes down and it's getting late**

 **You say it's time for bed**

 **She just takes her time**

 **Acting like she never heard a word you said.**

 **Little baby wanna hold you tight**

 **She don't ever wanna say good night**

 **She's a lover, she wanna be Mommy's Girl.**

The scenes that played across the wall were from the photos Callie had organized into photo albums and scenes from the DVD's she had gifted her mothers. The tears started up again, but Callie was so touched that she willed herself to hold it together for as long as she could.

 **When the morning comes**

 **And it's time to go start another day**

 **She won't let you leave, and she does her best**

 **To try to make you stay.**

 **Pretty baby gonna start to cry**

 **She don't ever wanna say good bye**

 **She's a lover, she wanna be Mommy's Girl.**

 **She don't ever wanna be without you.**

 **Never have to worry she won't doubt you.**

 **Then she puts her head upon your shoulder.**

 **Says she'll marry you when she get older.**

Everyone watched the scenes play across the wall and they watched Callie become more and more emotional as the films showed her growing up and when they began to show Jude as a baby as well, that was when Callie could no longer keep the tears to herself. Jude took a few steps off the stage and walked towards Callie as he continued to sing.

 **When the time has come, and she's old enough**

 **To be on her own**

 **She won't understand why you're feelin' sad**

 **Cause she's leaving you all alone.**

 **Little woman gonna make you cry**

 **You don't ever wanna say good bye**

 **She's a lady, she'll always be Mommy's Girl.**

 **Little woman gonna break your heart**

 **Gonna miss her when you're both apart**

 **She's a lady, but she'll always be Mommy's Girl.**

 **She'll always be Mommy's Girl...**

The music died and Jude was standing in front of his sister who had her head buried in her hands. He knelt in front of her and rubbed her arms to soothe her.

"Hey, I hope those are happy tears." Callie looked up and smiled through her tears and gently touched her brother's cheek. There was a moment of silence between the two of them and Jude nodded his head and broke the silence by simply saying, "I know, I miss her too Cal, but she's here for you, you gotta believe that." Callie nodded and took the tissue Jude was offering her as she stood up and again hugged her baby brother tightly. This time when she pulled away Luca was standing behind her and she was able to turn into him and find extra support and comfort.

The rest of the day was just one big party. Family, friends and co-workers danced, drank and celebrated the newlyweds. When it well past last call, people finally started to go home, wishing the couple well as they left. Luca and Callie would be spending the night in the hotel since they knew they would be exhausted so the last picture the photographer got was a gorgeous shot of them walking hand in hand out of the ballroom towards the elevators.

 **So I'm not gonna write a big flowery honeymoon for them so it'll be back to regular stuff after this so if you want to see something just holler and I'll see what I can do. The songs are "Child of Mine", "Feels Like Home" "I loved her first" and "Daddy's Girl".**


	29. Back To Work

**So my life is kind of a mess right now. I have only one interview for my internship year which isn't great but its back home in CA so that would be amazing. Taking breaks from studying to write this make me happy so I hope you enjoy these next chapters. I jumped a few months in the future and you'll see why, hopefully no one has a big problem with it. Let me know what you think in reviews.**

For the past month, Callie's team had been called out at every opportunity and they had very little down time to recuperate in between missions. Callie had put in the request for time off for the following month so she and Luca could take a week off and have a honeymoon. They planned to drive up the coast to San Francisco and spend a week exploring the city and enjoying the time off from work. Of course, that time off seemed far off in the distance as Callie stood outside the helicopter when they had returned to the base after helping with a rescue that had Callie in the water for an hour all total. Callie was finishing her paperwork when Will joined her as he finished packing up the machinery aboard the aircraft.

"I think we're all set Cal, she's ready to ride next time we get called which I hope to hell is not for at least two days, cuz I need some sleep desperately." Callie signed her last form and handed them to Will, but as she reached her hand toward him her head began to spin slightly and she had to grip Will's arm to keep herself from falling to the ground. Will kept a firm grip on Callie, but was immediately concerned at how fast Callie had gone from being fine to looking like she was going to pass out.

"Callie, you ok?" Callie opened her mouth to say something, anything, but words didn't come out. Instead her head began to pound and the dizzy feeling that had bothered her a moment before was now becoming unbearable. She held tighter to Will who was by now holding her up. She could hear Will calling for the rest of her team to call for help and that was the last thing she remembered before she lost consciousness and went completely limp in Will's arms. Will had hoped that their last call would mark some time for them to relax before the next time they would get called out again: he wasn't planning on anything major happening before they left the base that day so his boss pass out in his arms was not something he was really prepared to handle. The other members of the crew came running and called for an ambulance and they all checked that Callie was indeed breathing but was for some unknown reason unconscious. The paramedics arrived fairly quickly since they were still on base. They took Callie to the hospital on base and began to evaluate her there, giving Will time to try and contact Luca, or anyone in her family.

A few miles away Luca was sitting in a meeting with his supervisor and his phone was sitting in his briefcase on silent. After a few minutes of not being able to reach him, Will took a chance and called the firm that Luca worked for and started pulling rank on every person over the phone who told him that the meeting could not be interrupted. Finally, he told them that something was wrong with his wife and a receptionist knew that Luca would be furious if he was kept in the dark regarding his wife being in the hospital. The young woman knocked on the door of the office and Luca's supervisor looked up and seemed surprised.

"Beth? I thought I said no calls and no interruptions unless it's an emergency."

"You did sir, but I do believe that we have an emergency." The woman turned to Luca, "your wife's second in command has been calling non-stop for a while now and I think you should talk to him at the very least."

"Why? What happened? Why wasn't Callie calling?" Luca was up out of his seat and already looked panicked.

"According to the man on the phone they got back from a call and she passed out, prompting them to call 911 and get her to the hospital on base." Luca looked stunned and scared and it wasn't until he felt his boss' hand on his shoulder that he snapped back to reality.

"Sir, I'm sorry to do this, but I can't just sit here if she's in danger. I have to go."

"Of course you do my boy, I'd have run out of here screaming if it were my wife. Go take care of your family and keep me in the loop if you need to use some of you time off earlier than you expected. Beth, call the garage and have Mr. Russo's car ready for him when he gets downstairs." Luca grabbed his bag and thanked his boss as he all but ran out of the room, fumbling for his phone in the process. He noticed 10 missed calls from Will, but nothing from Callie which worried him. Luca stopped by his desk to grab some work to be done at home if things weren't crazy, he figured he could care for Callie and meet his deadlines at the same time. When he made it downstairs, his car was indeed waiting and he made his way toward the base hospital as quickly as he could without getting himself hurt in the process.

He reached the base and showed the visitor badge that Callie made sure he always carried with him in case he ever needed to get on the base. He parked the car and ran towards the hospital and he spotted Will sitting in the waiting room when he entered the double doors. Will looked up and seemed relieved to see Luca there and he quickly stood to meet him.

"Where is she and what happened?"

"We were finishing some paperwork and as she handed it to me she started to look pale and then she passed out. Still breathing and everything, but still unconscious. The doctor wouldn't tell me anything, but if you tell the nurse that you are here she'll page the doctor to come get you and take you back to see her."

"Thanks man, I owe you one."

"Naw, just make sure she feels better soon and takes care of herself please." Will told Luca to call him if her needed anything otherwise he was going to head home. As he left, Luca checked in with the nurse and asked to talk to her doctor. The nurse assured him that the doctor would be out to speak with him in a moment. Luca waited nervously for about 15 minutes before a doctor was standing in front of him asking for the family of Callie Foster. Callie had decided that while she was in the Navy she would keep her maiden name and change it to her married name later. Truthfully, Luca didn't care, but it did make these situations tricky since their names didn't match even on paperwork.

"She's my wife. Is she alright?"

The doctor smiled and nodded, "she just woke up about ten minutes ago Mr. Russo. She is fully oriented and knows where she is, the date and all other questions I asked her so this was not anything to do with her brain being damaged."

"Then what caused her to lose consciousness?"

"Exhaustion and dehydration Mr. Russo. Her coworker told me they had been working a lot the last few weeks without much time to rest. Her body was simply putting its foot down. Would you like to come back and see her?"

"Please." Luca followed the doctor down the hallway into an exam room where he saw Callie sitting up in bed, offering him a smile as though to apologize for worrying him. He smiled and sat down on the bed, offering Callie a quick kiss before turning back to the doctor.

"When can see go home?"

"As soon as her lab work gets back. I wanted to make sure she wasn't anemic as well. I'll be back in about half an hour with the results and if everything is clear, you two are free to go home." The doctor left the room and Luca turned back to Callie.

"You certainly know how to get my heart pumping, you know that? Callie grabbed his hand with the hand that wasn't attached to an IV.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize how much we had been pushing ourselves the last month and I had no idea what was happening until I started to collapse in Will's arms."

"Well, after this I hope you plan on take a rest and listening when your body tells you its tired."

"I promise." Luca told Callie about his mad dash to the hospital and how he left his meeting abruptly. They talked about going home and making dinner and actually relaxing. The doctor came back in about 30 minutes later than she had said she would, but she had Callie's labs in her hand when she did.

"Sorry that took so long folks, there was something I wanted to double check on before I came to give you your labs."

"Is something wrong?"

"No, far from it. Everything looked fine, but one of your levels was elevated." The doctor handed Callie the lab results and Callie looked confused.

"You're gonna have to break it down in plain English Doc cuz none of this makes sense to me." The doctor highlighted one line and handed back to Callie.

"Your hCG levels is above 25, well above it actually." The doctor could have told them both flat out what that meant, but this was a little bit more fun.

"Callie, when a woman has hCG levels this high it confirms pregnancy." Both Callie and Luca looked at the doctor with wide eyes and eventually Callie managed to speak.

"Pregnancy? I'm pregnant…like with a baby." The doctor laughed, but nodded.

"Yes Callie, with a baby. I can order a sonogram before you leave so you have proof if you'd like." Callie nodded and the doctor left to go get the machine, leaving the couple in a state of shock. Callie eventually rubbed Luca's hand and tried to see where his head was with this startling news.

"Hey, you ok? You haven't said anything since she left the room. Are you upset that this happened so soon and not later like we planned?" Luca shook his head and turned to face Callie.

"How could I be upset about this? You're going to have a baby. We're gonna have a baby. This is the best thing that has happened to me second to meeting you that first day at the pool. I'm shocked sure, but not even a little bit upset. This is awesome Cal." Luca kissed Callie and couldn't stop smiling and couldn't hide the tears in his eyes.

"Unless this isn't something you want Callie, are you upset?"

"No, god no. A little surprised because I didn't think we'd been hearing this kind of news for another year, but I'm happy and maybe a little bit scared. You just got settled at work, I'll have to work from a desk until the baby is born, which means not a lot of extra income." Luca grabbed Callie's hands and made her focus on him.

"Callie. We may not be rich, but we have everything in the world to give this baby and we will find a way to figure out our finances. Wasn't it your moms who took you and Jude in when they didn't have the room or the money. They made room, they found a way because you were their children. This baby is ours and it is going to get all the things it needs, first and foremost it will get a lot of love from its parents. So, if this is something you want to do, I'm right there with you."

Callie kissed Luca's hand and smiled, "of course it's what I want. It's what I always wanted." In that moment the doctor returned with the sonogram machine and set Callie up to do the scan. After searching for the right spot the doctor hit a few buttons and was able to get a good picture of the baby for both parents to see. The doctor printed out a few copies for Callie and

Luca to take home and she gave Callie the names of different doctors on base who could take over her care if she chose to use a Navy doctor for her pre-natal care and delivery. The two of them made their way out to where Luca had hastily parked his car and began to drive home.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I did not expect today to end like this."

"You mean you didn't plan on me fainting at work only to find out we're having a baby? Weird, that was totally how I saw this day going."

"So how do we break the news to the family? I'm not sure who is gonna cry harder, your moms or my mom."

"Well, once we have an appointment with a doctor we didn't meet in the emergency room, we can get the sonogram framed. My mom's birthday is coming up so that's how we could tell them since the whole family will be together. We could get your mom some baby books that she read to you when you were little and make the card from the baby asking her to read them to it when they are born. Something cute like that would make her happy."

"Those are really good ideas, how did you come up with those so damn fast?"

"You married a brilliant woman, you know what I'm capable of."

 **People had asked for them to have kids right away and to honest I'm pressed for time and wanted to write those kinds of chapters anyway. Hope people don't hate it.**


	30. Happy Birthday Grandma

**Things are super stressful at school right now trying to nail down things for my internship and my dissertation, but I wanted to get this out there.**

After Callie and Luca had some time to calm down and digest the news themselves, they set to work, creating the ways they planned on telling their parents. Stef's birthday was coming up about 6 weeks after they had ended up in the ER so they had time to get the sonogram framed and get a few other gifts for her and Lena to enjoy together. Luca took Callie's idea of how to tell his own mother and step-father and worked on that as Callie set up the gift for Stef.

When Stef's birthday came around, she had begged her children to just have a quiet lunch or dinner at the house where they could all be together. Brandon had finally landed a job teaching music at a school about half an hour away from his childhood home and that is what paid his bills as he waited to hear back about auditions for orchestras and philharmonics. That being said, all the children were back home in San Diego and Stef wanted to celebrate that for her birthday. The night before the party, Callie was up late making sure the gift was perfect.

"Baby, come to bed, it's late and you need the rest. I promise you the present is perfect, they are gonna flip and everyone is going to be so excited, but you are growing a person inside you and I bet he wants his mother to sleep." Callie looked at her husband and smirked as she got up from the table and put the gift near the door for them to grab the next day.

"Still so sure it's gonna be a boy huh? Well, if he wants me to sleep, he should stop giving me heartburn no matter what I eat. Also, what if it's a girl?"

Luca shrugged his shoulders, "then we have a daughter, but I am calling it now, it's a boy."

"I am sure my siblings would love to make a bet with you when they find out tomorrow." Callie was just shy of the end of her first trimester so they felt comfortable telling everyone at the party and the next day they had plans to meet Luca's parents for brunch and tell them then. Callie didn't have much of a bump yet, but if she pulled up her shirt you could see a tiny swell over her stomach: easily hidden by a slightly oversized shirt. The next morning, she ate a breakfast consisting of grilled cheese and eggs, not in the same bite of course, but she swore to Luca, that it was what the baby wanted. With Callie's morning sickness being unpredictable, Luca was happy to feed his wife whatever she could stomach, even if he found it hard to watch her eat it. They did a few things around the house, mostly out of nervous energy before they left to head to the Foster home. When they arrived, Luca went to help Callie out of the car and she waved him off.

"If you fawn all over me more than usual, they will know something is up. Just try and act normal." Luca laughed and again shrugged his shoulders.

"We are anything but normal love, but ok." They walked up the path and on the porch where they weren't surprised to find the front door unlocked. Callie walked in first, holding the gifts they brought and she called out for her family.

"Anybody home. Anybody can walk off the street into your house when you leave it unlocked you know." Lena appeared first, coming out of the kitchen.

"We knew you were coming and Brandon should be here any minute. Besides, with my cop wife and Navy daughter I think we are safer than most houses." Lena hugged and kissed the kids and offered to take the gifts to put them on the table with the other gifts they had gotten for Stef.

"Can I get you guys something to drink? There is water and soda outside in coolers and wine and beer inside." Callie, to her credit was quick to explain her choice of water.

"I'm technically still on call this weekend, so I have to stick with water." Lena led them both through the kitchen, giving Luca a beer as they went.

"I can't believe they can't have another team on stand by for you guys to have one weekend off."

"It's the nature of the beast mama, but we should be ok, I don't expect a call today. Fingers crossed." Callie smiled internally since her team was off that weekend, but her family didn't need to know that. Stef soon joined them and so did the rest of the kids. Brandon showed up just as they were getting ready to throw the food on the grill. Luca and Stef handled the ribs and corn they had on the grill, leaving Callie and Mariana to help Lena with the salad and birthday cake in the kitchen. The boys were outside fighting with folding tables to put the food on and for everyone to eat at, but among the three of them they were able to figure it out.

An hour later, the food was ready and everyone was quick to dive in. Callie had been smart and had out more salad on her plate than meat and Luca felt bad, knowing full well that the baby was causing Callie to not handle assertive smells recently. That meant that the BBQ sauce was making it hard to eat the meat at all, but she forced herself to eat a few ribs so that her plate was clean and her family wouldn't ask what was wrong. She offered to go get the cake set up and while she was in the house she popped a few antacids in her mouth to chew on in the hopes of keeping her lunch in her stomach. It seemed to help, along with some ginger ale she had gotten from the fridge. She brought the cake out and you wouldn't know she had just finished composing herself to try and fight the nausea she felt. Placing the cake in front of Stef, she lit the candles, they all sang and watched their mom blow out the candles of the baseball themed cake. The cake actually was easy for Callie to eat so her stomach calmed down and she finally felt like she could relax, at least in part. They all chatted happily about Brandon's new job or Jude entering his senior year of college and eventually Lena suggested they open gifts.

Callie offered to hand out the gifts, giving her full control to save her and Luca's gifts for last. Mariana had gotten Stef a spa treatment gift certificate, the boys all chipped in to buy their mom some Padres tickets and Lena had gotten Stef some new tools since they had given their old toolbox to Luca and Callie when they moved into their new place and Stef was excited to have new power tools to play with. Luca looked up as Callie brought out the last two gifts. She handed the first box to Stef and smiled.

"The boys told me you were getting Padres tickets so we thought you'd like a new jersey to wear to the game." Stef opened the box and fawned over it, telling the couple they shouldn't have spent the money, knowing how expensive those jerseys are, but she was blissfully unaware of what Callie had had personalized on the back, that is until Mariana took sharp intake of breath and told her mother to turn it around. Stef didn't understand what was so shocking as she turned it around, expecting to see a player's name. Instead she saw a random number and the bold letters above the number spelled out "GRANDMA". Stef seemed frozen for a minute before she looked up at Callie with surprise written all over her face.

"You're kidding." Callie shrugged her shoulders and handed her mother the other box. "I guess we could be kidding, but how else would I have gotten this?" Stef tore open the box and when she pulled the tissue papers away she was met with a beautiful wooden frame that had "I love my grandmas" written around the border of the frame and the sonogram dead center so you could see Callie's name next where it says the patient's name. Stef almost dropped the frame back into her lap and she soon broke out in a wide grin with tears streaming down her face. She showed the frame in its entirety to Lena who began to respond in a similar fashion. Stef looked back up at Callie with a smile so wide, Callie thought her face would crack.

"Your pregnant? Like seriously going to have a baby?" Callie sat down next to her mother and took her hand, gently pressing it against her shirt, effectively letting Stef feel the slight bump that was there. "Yes, I'm pregnant and I'm seriously going to have a baby. You think making you a grandma for Christmas will be a good enough gift?" Stef legit started crying and pulled Callie closer to her and seemed very content in holding her daughter there. Luca watched from his seat, recording the whole exchange on his phone and he fought back tears because it was a really beautiful moment.

"It would be the best Christmas gift ever." Stef let go of Callie for a split second and turned to Lena.

"We're gonna be grandmas." Stef slipped the jersey on, while Lena looked at the sonogram with a tearful smile on her face. Lena soon wrapped her daughter up in a huge hug and that prompted the rest of the family to lose their collective minds over the fact that Callie was going to have a baby. Jude waited to hug his sister and instead turned to Luca who had a proud smile on his face. Jude didn't offer him a hand shake, but instead wrapped the other man in a hug.

"You didn't waste any time giving me a niece or a nephew. Congratulations man."

"We didn't do this on purpose, but we are pretty excited about giving you a nephew or niece. My money is on nephew by the way." Jesus popped in the conversation waving a 20 dollar bill around.

"I'm in on whatever bet we are placing." Callie laughed as the boys did exactly what she said they would do while her mothers and Mariana freaked out over her news by fawning over her and wanting to see the sonogram picture over and over again.

"Have you told anyone else yet?" Stef questioned as she finally calmed down enough to speak.

"We are telling Michelle and Nick tomorrow. My first trimester is over on Wednesday so after that we are going to announce it to people at work and on social media. You can tell the grandparents if want to be the one to do it."

"Honey, that's up to you guys. It's your baby and your news." Lena pointed out, but Callie looked unconvinced.

"Yeah, but look at how much mom wants to tell literally everyone." Lena looked to her wife who seemed like a kid on Christmas and she had to admit, she wanted to call her own parents and tell them that she was going to be a grandma so she understood Stef's feeling.

"Well, we are happy to tell them, just prepare for the phone call afterwards with lots of screaming." Callie smiled and knew she was in for a lot of high pitched phone calls once her grandmothers found out. In all the commotion, Stef didn't notice Mike walk out in the backyard. Callie saw him and turned her mother around to see who had just arrived. Stef ran over to her ex-husband and hugged him, leaving Mike confused and Lena just laughed at his facial expression.

"Nice to see you too Stef. Sorry for being late. Looks like you already had a pretty good birthday." Stef looked at Callie, "can I tell Mike?"

"Of course you can." Stef turned the frame in her hands around to face Mike. "I'm gonna be a grandma Mike. Lena and I are going to have a grandchild, can you believe it?" Mike looked at the picture and hugged his ex-wife.

"Well then you are having a pretty fantastic birthday then. Congrats Stef." Mike looked over to Callie and smiled, "congratulations to you too Callie, you two must be excited. First kid is always scary and exciting at the same time." Luca joined Callie and they both were beaming.

"We are definitely scared, but mostly really looking forward to everything. Although I'd give anything for the morning sickness to stop." The rest of the day Stef shared tips she used when she was pregnant with Brandon with Callie and since Stef never liked making a big fuss out of her birthday, celebrating Callie being pregnant was the perfect way to spend her afternoon in her opinion.

 **So I'll do them telling Luca's parents and then I'll move on from there. Let me know what you think.**


	31. Calling the Shots

**Sorry for the wait you guys. School is crazy as it winds down and I got a tattoo that got infected because of an allergic reaction to the ink so I've been busy tending to it. In this chapter I have Callie tell Luca's parents and throw in something else. I have a question for everyone at the end of the chapter cuz I had an idea for a chapter later on.**

About a week after telling Stef, Lena and her siblings, Callie and Luca were at his parents' house having dinner with them and his sisters. The dinner conversation was random and focused on a little of everything. When dessert was being served, Callie nodded to her husband who reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

"Dad, I have this special side project I'm working on for the apartment and I was hoping you'd like to help me work on it in the garage. I could use an extra set of hands."

"You mean you need my tools. Don't you build things for a living now, what could you be building that you would possibly need my help on?" Nick laughed and winked at his step-son and put on his glasses before looking at the drawing. It took him a minute for it to sink in, what he was looking at, that he was looking at a picture, a design sketch for a crib. He looked at Luc over his glasses and smiled.

"You're joking right?"

"Why is that everyone's first question? No we aren't kidding. So what do say? Willing to build one of these with me?". Luca smiled wide at his step-father and the older man let a few tears slip as he handed the paper to his wife who promptly started crying.

"I'd be honored to help you build a crib for your first born. Nothing would make me happier. Congratulations you two." Michelle had Callie wrapped in a tight hug, Luca's sisters were now all excited and in the chaos, Nick came over and hugged Luca close to him.

"I know for a fact you could build that crib yourself. Thank you for asking me to be a part of it."

Luca looked at Nick and smiled a watery smile, "it's something a man should do with his dad right? You've been that man in my life since I was a kid and my father would want to know that you had a hand in building my child's crib. And when they grow up, you can tell them that their grandpa helped daddy build it."

"I know you wish your dad were here son and I'm sorry he's not."

"So am I, but I am very fortunate that you are here…I've been fortunate since you met my mom. This baby, my baby, it will be every bit of your grandchild as it is mom's, please believe that. We couldn't ask for a better grandpa for this child and I couldn't have asked for a better man to be a father to me in the place of my dad. He'll always be in my heart, but so will you. So what do you say, are we gonna build a crib?"

"I say you got yourself a project partner boy.". Another hugged exchanged between the men broke the moment and allowed Nick to hug Callie and Michelle to fawn all over her son and her soon to be grandchild.

"Your daddy would be so happy sweetheart. I know that wherever he is he is so happy for you. You'll be such a good father, I can already see it."

Luca handed his mother a tissue and smiled through tears, "if it's a boy, we're…well we're gonna name him after dad, if its ok with you."

"Baby, you don't ever have to ask me to celebrate your father. You name that child whatever you two want, the family tradition doesn't have to continue." This time Callie jumped in.

"We want it to, if we have a boy that is. I promised Luca a long time ago that our first boy would be named after his father and I happen to like the version of his name we are gonna go with. Luca is hell bent on this one being a boy. Personally, I think he's wrong, but we'll find out in a few weeks."

Michelle hugged both Callie and Luca to her and then went over to her husband to celebrate the news of becoming grandparents while the girls fawned over Callie and who got to be the cool aunt.

Two weeks later, Luca was already at the Foster home since his meetings wrapped early for the day. He was helping Lena cook dinner when his phone started ringing. He heard the ringtone and quickly picked up.

"Hey love, you on the way home?" Lena could hear Callie's voice on the other side of the call and Luca looked around before answering.

"Oven baked chicken and some mashed potatoes, I'm working on the salad, why?" Luca made a face and looked sad for a minute.

"Sure, I'll take care of it, just wait in the car ok?" Luca hung up with Callie and quickly turned back to Lena.

"Fun story, we're going out for dinner, my treat."

"Dinner is literally almost ready, why are we going out?"

"Because Callie got out of her car, could smell what we are cooking and threw up outside. She's been super sensitive to smells lately. The morning sickness has sort of gotten better, but now certain smells just put it over the top. So with all due respect to your food, she can't eat it and according to her the baby wants Chinese food. Any chance Stef could meet us at the restaurant after she leaves work?" Lena would've laughed if her daughter wasn't miserable because of food she normally loved. She shut off the oven and put it on the stove to let it cool, resigning to the fact that it would need to be "leftovers" some other night.

"Chinese sounds great.". Lena packed up the food and put it away before following Luca and Jude out to the car. The twins were also finishing work and agreed to meet the family at their favorite Chinese place near the house. Lena and Jude rode in the car with Luca and Callie so they could save on the amount of cars being driven to dinner.

"You feeling any better honey?" Lena looked over at Callie who sat in the back with her while Luca drove and Jude rode up front.

"Much better and I'm sorry about dinner. This one calls the shots these days." Callie rubbed her belly which was now pretty obvious depending on the clothes she was wearing.

"Don't be sorry, it's literally out of your control. Besides, that chicken tastes better the next day anyway."

"It doesn't but thank you for trying to make me feel better.". They arrived at the restaurant and got settled as they waited for everyone to arrive. Stef showed up first and sat next to her wife before shooting a questioning glance toward Callie.

"My grandson not playing nice in there today Cal?"

"Oh god, not you too. We don't know if it is a boy yet and even if it says so on a screen, what if they grow up and feel like they are a girl?"

"Then we love the same we did before. Callie, we really don't care, but we didn't really do this when Brandon was born, we found out on accident and told everyone. You guys keeping it to yourself is kind of exciting. Regardless of what the baby is born as, you know that this family will respect whoever they are as a person as they start to develop their personality and sense of self."

"I know, I'm sorry I got snippy with you. I don't think I ever get to sleep well again starting now because this kid keeps me awake all night."

"Well you tell them that grandma said to stop it."

"I'm sure that'll work mom." When everyone arrived they placed their order and Callie turned back to her mothers.

"Did you guys tell the grandparents yet?

"I see Dad tomorrow so I was gonna tell him then. Grandma might still be screaming because I told her two days ago, but made her promise to wait till you called her before she started bugging you with lots of texts about the baby."

"And mom and daddy have been out of the country, but are getting back next week and when they do it'll be the first thing they hear when they step off the plane."

The rest of dinner was relaxed and everyone enjoyed the random trip out of the house for dinner, courtesy of the newest member of their family.

 **Ok, so I have three things: girl or boy for the first question. Should they have twins this time around or save for later? And since Frank dies in the show do you want him to live long enough to see the child/children be born?. Let me know what you think and what you'd like to see and I'll see what I can do.**


	32. Mommy Jitters

**Thanks for weighing in on what people would like to see. I will do what I can to add things that most people want to see.**

Several months later, Luca and Callie were both at the Foster household for different reasons. Luca had promised Stef and Lena to fix a few loose boards on the deck outside so that they could have Callie's baby shower there when the time came and Callie was out shopping with Mariana for some other maternity clothes. Stef and Lena had left the house to pick up groceries for dinner, leaving Luca to fend for himself at the house while he worked outside. When the two women returned, they heard music playing outside and they smiled as they heard Luca sing as he worked. The young man always maintained he couldn't sing like his wife, but he had a nice voice, even when he was just singing along to a song without paying much attention. Stef was about to go outside to offer her son in law something to drink when she heard the song change and she waited because this song sounded familiar to her. Luca sang along like he had to the other songs, but this song was different.

 **Gotta hold on easy as I let you go.  
Gonna tell you how much I love you, though you think you already know.  
I remember I thought you looked like an angel wrapped in pink so soft and warm.  
You've had me wrapped around your finger since the day you were born.**

 **You're beautiful baby from the outside in.  
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again.  
Go on, take on this whole world.  
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl.**

Stef put her hand over her mouth, but waved for Lena to come to the door, but to do so quietly. They watched as Luca continued to measure and make markings on the wood he was replacing, all the while he was singing along to a song that kind of gave away the secret he and Callie had been keeping. ****

 **When you were in trouble that crooked little smile could melt my heart of stone.  
Now look at you, I've turned around and you've almost grown.  
Sometimes you're asleep I whisper "I Love You!" in the moonlight at your door.  
As I walk away, I hear you say, "Daddy Love You More!".**

 **You're beautiful baby from the outside in.  
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again.  
Go on, take on this whole world.  
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl.**

 **Someday, some boy will come and ask me for your hand.  
But I won't say "yes" to him unless I know, he's the half  
that makes you whole, he has a poet's soul, and the heart of a man's man.  
I know he'll say that he's in love.  
But between you and me. He won't be good enough!**

Stef and Lena quietly stepped outside and stood in the doorway until the song was over, but both of them were about to lose their minds. ****

 **You're beautiful baby from the outside in.  
Chase your dreams but always know the road that'll lead you home again.  
Go on, take on this whole world.  
But to me you know you'll always be, my little girl.**

As the song faded out, Luca finished securing the last board he was fixing and the silence was broken by his mothers in law clapping from their spot on the porch. Luca looked up to see both women standing there with huge smiles on their faces and Luca's face went a little pale, knowing his wife would not be happy that he had accidently spilled the beans.

"Callie is going to kill me when she finds out. Please don't say anything to her till I let her know I accidently told you." Stef stepped forward, still smiling wide. "And what was it that you accidently told us?"

"You're really going to make me say it aren't you/"

"Oh yeah." Luca sighed and smiled, "you are going to have granddaughter. We are having a girl." The squeals that came from both women was startling and soon both of them were bugging Luca, not caring that he was sweaty from working outside for several hours.

"Oh sweetheart, that is just wonderful and so exciting. I guess we were wrong about it being a boy huh?" Luca smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.

"No kidding, not that I care either way, but for some reason now that we know it's going to be a girl I feel more panicked than ever. Even after helping raise my sisters, what if I suck at being a dad to a little girl."

"Honey, the fact that you are this worried says you are going to be a great father to any children you have and that includes this little girl. Mike and I were a wreck when we had Brandon, but we figured it out and when Lena and I took in the twins we had literally no idea what to expect, but here we are 5 kids later and look at how everything turned out." Stef's advice was cut short with Callie calling out for anyone in the house. Everyone made their way into the kitchen and into the living room to see Callie putting her bags down.

"Mariana dropped me off because apparently she had a date she had to go get ready for." Callie looked up from her spot on the sofa to see her mothers with goofy grins on their face and some residual tears in their eyes.

"What's with the weird looks?" Callie's question was answered when he husband came out from behind her mothers with a guilty look on his face. Callie knew almost right away what had happened and she sighed deeply, but smiled as she shook her head.

"I should've known you'd be the one to breakdown and tell them."

"Don't blame him Cal, he was singing outside when we came home and we heard him. It's not like he told us on purpose." Lena defended her son in law and Callie wasn't really mad so it didn't take much to calm her down.

"That means you two are in on the secret, no telling grandparents, co-workers, my siblings, random people who didn't ask. Everyone will find out when she is born and that will come soon enough: deal?"

"Deal." Callie smiled and rubbed Luca's shoulder in an effort to show she wasn't really mad.

"And stick to gender neutral stuff for the baby shower, that way its fair for everyone else who doesn't get to find out early."

"Whatever you want honey. We promise we won't tell anyone. Have you guys thought about names yet?"

Callie smiled and nodded, "we have a list of ones we like, but that we are keeping under wraps till she is born, at then you guys can be surprised by something." Luca kissed Callie's forehead and gestured toward the house. "Would you guys mind if I took a quick shower here, fixing the deck had me getting warmer than I thought?"

"Of course honey, use our bathroom if you'd like, the water pressure is better." Luca left the women and headed into the house and soon Callie settled into the kitchen with Lena and Stef as the older women went about making something to eat for dinner and Callie offered to help, but both mothers declined.

"You know I'm pregnant not disabled, I can help make dinner."

"We know honey, but you've been on your feet with Mariana all day and that was probably a lot of walking, you must be tired by now." Stef made good sense and Callie was tired, but she didn't like feeling like she couldn't contribute.

"How about a salad, that I can do sitting?" Lena smiled and slid some veggies and bowl over to Callie along with a knife. "Knock yourself out kiddo." The three of them worked in silence for a while before Lena ventured to ask a question.

"So when you found out, who was more excited, you or Luca?" Callie smiled at the memory and laughed.

"Definitely Luca, my mind was already going to all the questions I had and worries I now had, but he was grinning from ear to ear and when he heard her heartbeat he about fell out of his chair. It was sweet."

"Can mama and I put any of those worries you have to rest sweets?" Callie kept chopping and shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know. What if I can't handle a girl. I mean think about it, I raised a boy when Jude and I were growing up, I know how to handle having a son, I don't know crap about being a mom to a daughter. What if I suck at it?" Lena turned the stove down lower and she and Stef gave Callie their full attention.

"Honey, you are going to be a good mom to this baby regardless of it being a girl. You have a big heart, a big crazy, loving family and a big brain in that thick head of yours. This baby has so much love waiting for her and she has an incredible mother and I know that because I got to raise her mother for a good chunk of years and I know what you are capable of when you put your heart into something and this baby has your heart in her, hell Callie can hear your heart beat inside you right now and that is the kind of love you feel." Stef held Callie's hand and tried to reassure her daughter.

"Besides, do you think I knew what I was doing when I was pregnant with Brandon? I was terrified and so was Mike. Even though we had a complicated relationship we loved the child we were going to have and that love got us through a lot of the rough patches where you wonder if you are doing it right."

"I guess I just feel like I should feel more confident about this. I raised Jude for years. I know how kids work, but now that it is a child coming directly from me it's scary. And exciting, like I can't wait to meet her and hold her, I just…I don't want anything bad to ever touch her and once she is no longer in my body, I can't protect her from those things."

"Callie, all parents want to do that for their kids, at least the good ones do. It break mom and mine's heart that you and Jude ever felt what it was like to be abused and we wish that we could take back what happened when you were in the Olmstead's house, but we can't and that is something we have to live with. We are your parents and we couldn't protect you from these things that hurt you so profoundly. You learn as the kids grow up Callie, that you can't protect them from everything 100% of the time, but you can love them fiercely and protect them when you can. Other than that, you learn to make peace with the fact that some days they will come home with bruised knees or a broken heart and when that happens you just hold onto them and love them. Speaking from my experience, 90% of the important stuff you do as a parent involves just loving your kid with your whole heart Callie. Finances, school and work all get worked out, but love is what this baby needs the most and honey, with you as a mother and Luca as a father, she has that in spades." Lena kissed the side of Callie's head and noticed a few stray tears slip from her daughter's eyes. Callie nodded her understanding and let her mothers gently sandwich in a hug. That was the scene Luca come upon when he came downstairs.

"Everything ok?" Callie got up from her spot in between her mothers and went over to hug her husband.

"Fine, just talking about baby jitters." Luca kissed Callie's hairline and instinctively rubbed his hand against Callie's belly.

"And did your moms make me girls feel better?" Callie smiled and nodded before returning to her work with dinner. "They did. I'm still freaking out a little bit, but no more so than any other new mom to be."

"You know, you can let me handle the worrying. I'm not growing a human so I can handle the stress and would be happy to do it if it makes you feel better."

"I'm ok. I promise. Besides, you have enough to worry about with the nursery don't you?" Luca nodded and smiled. The nursery was his special project. Callie and he had picked everything out together, but Luca wanted to put things together himself, aside from the crib that he was building with Nick.

"That I do. At least the first coat of paint is finished. And the crib is coming along."

"See honey, you guys are going to be just fine. Just work together and try and enjoy this. You only have one first pregnancy and its special whether you have 5 kids or just the one, trust me.". Callie knew her mother was right and that enjoying her pregnancy and letting herself have fun with planning for her daughter was a much better use of her time than worrying.

 **So…a lot of you wanted them to have a girl and to save them having twins for later. So that's what I did. I originally wanted them to have a boy first, but I was happy to change it up a little.**


	33. 2am Wake Up Call

**So I didn't want to write a baby shower chapter for this part in the story, but maybe if I write them having more children I'll do it then. Anyway, I figured I would set this towards the end of Callie's pregnancy.**

As Thanksgiving came and went the whole family was anxiously waiting for the baby to be born. Callie was due at any point in the next two weeks and she had been warned that first babies have the tendency to come when they want and frequently come early. That being said, that afternoon Callie had convinced both her mothers and her husband that she wanted to help them go pick out a tree for her family. Luca and Callie had agreed once again on getting a small tree for their home since much of their spare time was spent preparing the house for the baby. Christmas Eve would be spent with Luca's family and Christmas day would be with the Fosters. That of course meant that the family had to go tree shopping and if they waited much later they'd be bringing a newborn with them so they settled on the weekend after Thanksgiving weekend to go pick up a tree.

It was a typical December in California, but the rain had stopped for a few days, leaving the clouds behind to block the sun and making it a bit cold. The whole family bundled up and split into cars before heading to their traditional lot. Once there, Stef and Lena walked ahead with the kids walking behind them and Callie and Luca pulling up the rear. Callie was at the point in her pregnancy where she couldn't walk without some difficulty so she took small steps because she refused to "waddle" as she called it. Waddle or not, they eventually joined their family on the lot and saw Matt heading towards them. He hugged Stef first, as always, but after offering Lena a hug he looked up and noticed that something was new with the Foster family this year.

"Well I'll be damned Stef. Looks like you're gonna be a grandma and soon by the looks of it."

"Better watch what you say Matt, pregnant women who are days away from giving birth don't have a sense of humor about how big they look. But…can you believe it, grandmas, we're going to be grandmas." Matt smiled at Callie and gently hugged her and shook Luca's hand.

"Well, congratulations you two. Sounds like this Christmas is going to be pretty special."

"It definitely won't be a silent night in our house, that's for sure." Luca added with a smile.

"Well, you all have done this a few times before and half price as a present to the newest member of your clan."

"Matt, are you ever going to charge us full price for a damn tree. You give us deals and discounts every year."

"Come on Stef, you guys are family and you happen to have a huge family that is constantly getting bigger. Just wait till next year when the kid is old enough to be here with you. I'm going to spoil you all rotten." Stef accepted Matt's explanation and even though Callie tried to make him change his mind, he insisted that the baby's first tree should be amazing, even if the only people who would remember it were the adults. Callie and Luca picked out a small tree for their place and quickly put that on the roof of their car before helping Stef and Lena pick a larger one for their home. They found one relatively quickly which was great because Callie was exhausted and her feet were killing her. Jude and Jesus rode with Callie and Luca back to their place to put their tree up and in some water before they all went back to the Foster household to help put the tree up and begin to decorate. Luca, Lena and Brandon all fought with the tree for about 20 minutes before it finally stayed up and was secure.

"Finally! What you think love, does it look ok from over there?" Luca expected Callie to weigh in, but instead he turned around to see Stef covering Callie with a blanket since she was sound asleep on the couch.

"I should get her home if she's this tired." Stef waved him off from trying to wake Callie.

"You said yourself she hasn't been sleeping great. Just keep playing the Christmas music and decorate the tree with the lights at least. She'll be happy that you did it while she was in the room at least, because face it honey, she is too tired to help today. In the week leading up to me having Brandon I could fall asleep anywhere except my bed at bedtime. Her body is just trying to reserve energy for when it needs it most."

Luca nodded, "you're right, I should let her just sleep there. Between getting our place ready and helping you guys get things set up here, I don't think she's thought about how much energy she is using."

"She was nesting honey. Now she knows that the nursery is all set at your apartment. The makeshift nursery is all set here for when the baby is here and everything is in the car for when she goes into labor. Believe me, now is the time to rest, but if you want to string the lights I wouldn't say no to that." Luca smiled and nodded, knowing Stef hated untangling the lights, so he and Jesus usually ended up doing it. It was a large tree so it took about an hour to get all the lights up, but once it was all lit up it looked beautiful.

"We can put up the ornaments tomorrow or later this week. Cal's been asleep long enough I bet you can wake her up and get her home now that she has a little nap under her belt." Luca nodded at Lena's suggestion and went over to gently tap Callie on the shoulder to wake her. It took longer than usual, but eventually Callie opened her eyes and was slightly confused about where she was, but as she woke up she noticed the familiar surroundings and she offered her family a weak and tired smile.

"The tree lights look great you guys."

"They do, but we vetoed putting the ornaments up and decided that you and I should head home. Clearly you're tired and the baby is putting their foot down."

"Well if they could stop putting it down on my lungs that would be great. This kid wakes me up by kicking my rib cage which feels awesome." Luca helped Callie off the couch and went to get their things together while Callie hugged everyone goodnight.

"Feel free to call us or text if you can't sleep. And obviously if you go into labor call until one of us picks up."

"Obviously. Don't worry, you'll be my first call." Callie kissed everyone goodnight and she and Luca headed to their car and then straight home. Once they were home Callie changed into PJs and settled on the couch while Luca put a few strong of lights on their small tree in the corner of the living room. Christmas music played in the background as Callie tried to help her husband from her seat, but eventually she let him handle the lights himself and just enjoyed watching him fight with them. When the small tree was all lit up, Luca joined Callie on the couch and sighed as he sank into his seat.

"I think I am going to shower before we go to bed, my muscles are killing me after fighting with the tree at your moms' place. You coming to bed soon love?"

"I think I'll shower after you, maybe the warm water will help my back. So help me up and I'll just wait in our room for you to finish your shower." Luca helped Callie up and they went into the master bedroom were Callie went to get clothes to sleep in and Luca headed straight for the shower. He rushed his shower, knowing how tired his wife was and once he exited the bathroom wearing his sleep pants and drying his hair with a towel, Callie stepped into the bathroom and started the shower up again. She was in there for a while, but the water felt so good on her bad she hated to get out, but once the water went cold she toweled off and quickly blow dried her hair before walking into the bedroom and settling into bed where Luca was reading another parenting book, something he had been prone to doing since Callie found out they were pregnant.

"Your back feeling any better? I can rub it before you go to sleep if that'll help."

"The water felt so nice I didn't want to get out of the shower, but a backrub would be nice, maybe then she'll let me sleep a little bit." Callie laid on her side and Luca ran his hand up and down her spine, putting added pressure to the lower back where he knew Callie felt the most discomfort. After about 15 minutes of doing this he could hear Callie's breathing even out and when he checked on her, her eyes were shut and she was dead asleep.

"Night baby. Night little one." Luca kissed Callie's forehead and rubbed his hand across her belly before settling into his side of the bed. Luca didn't realize how tired he was until he was in a comfortable spot because he fell asleep in about 10 minutes, oblivious to the fact that their daughter had other plans that did not involve letting mommy and daddy sleep.

At around 2am Callie woke up to more pain in her back, but even in her sleepy haze she felt like this pain was different. She sat up in bed and waited for a while and the pain came again. Callie remembered what they had taught her at the birthing class and what she had read in the books, not to mention what Stef had told her: she had a good idea of what labor feels like and she was pretty positive she was in the middle of the early stages of it right now.

Callie rubbed Luca's shoulder and shook him gently, trying to wake him up without startling him. "Luca, baby I need you to wake up." Luca mumbled something and turned over towards his wife, but stayed asleep. Callie turned on her light on the bedside table and tried again, this time calling Luca's name louder. This time he woke up, almost sitting up so fast he barely managed to stay on the bed.

"What's wrong? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, but I think I'm having contractions, like real ones." That woke Luca up completely and he turned on his lamp before going over to his wife's side of the bed and sitting at her feet.

"Wanna start timing them?" Callie nodded and Luca took out his phone and used the stop watch app to time the distance between contractions. For a while he rubbed Callie's leg in an effort to provide comfort while they waited for the next contraction to hit. When it did, Luca marked it down in the notebook they had placed near their bed for exactly this situation.

"That was about 20 minutes. We've got a while before we need to head to the hospital, but should we call our parents?"

"At 2am? They'll panic."

"Callie, they said to call when you went into labor and you are and besides they would be more mad if we didn't wake them up. Listen, I'll call my mom, you call your moms, ok?" Callie nodded and reached for her phone. She quickly called Stef's phone and she was surprised when her mother didn't pick up, but she tried Lena's phone thinking that she would be woken up for sure by the noise, but again she was met with her voicemail. After a few more frustrated attempts at calling her mothers, she looked at Luca who was still talking to his mom and then she quickly made her decision and dialed another number.

"Callie?"

"Hey buddy, did moms lose their phones cuz I've been calling for ten minutes and no one is picking up." Jude was already awake at the tone of his sister's voice and he quickly got out of bed and threw some jeans and a shirt on.

"I'll go wake them up now. Are you at the hospital?"

"No, we aren't leaving for a while, but I am in labor and we figured they'd want to know so they could have time to either meet us here or be ready to meet us at the hospital." Jude opened his mothers' bedroom door and saw both of them sound asleep, their phones lying next to them and he shook his head at this being the one night they didn't wake up to the phone ringing right by their head. He quickly touched Stef's shoulder which woke her up pretty damn fast and as soon as she opened her eyes Jude was handing her the phone.

"Callie's been calling you guys for ten minutes and when you didn't answer she called me. They aren't leaving yet for the hospital, but she is in labor." Stef's eyes got big and she took the phone from her son.

"Callie, honey, I am so sorry we didn't hear the phones. We must have left them on silent and then we passed out. How are you doing?" Jude went and woke Lena up while Stef took the call and she caught on to what was happening pretty quick.

"I'm ok for now. We just started timing things and they are still about 20 or so minutes apart. We'll probably leave for the hospital closer to when they are 10 or 8 minutes. The doctor also said we could go if my water breaks, but we would likely be waiting there for a while. For right now I'd rather be uncomfortable in my own home."

"Do you want us to come over and be with you or should we wait and just meet you at the hospital when you get there?" Callie thought it for a minute, unsure what she really wanted in that moment.

"I think we're ok on our own for now, but we will call you again when we leave for the hospital. Maybe charge your phones in the meantime so we can keep you posted with texts."

"Ok sweets, you just let us know if you need anything before then ok? We love you Callie."

"I love you guys too. I think I'm going to lay back down for a while and try and rest as much as I can before we leave."

"Ok honey, we're here if you need us." Callie hung up and Stef looked over to Lena.

"For now they are going to time things and try and rest. They'll call us when they leave for the hospital and we can meet them there."

"How'd she sound?"

"A little scared, excited and uncomfortable, so all the normal things I would expect from her and any first time mom. Question is are we going to get anymore sleep or are we awake now?"

"Well I don't know about you, but I'm wide awake now. We could eat a freakishly early breakfast and just wait for updates. Maybe call our parents when it is a more acceptable hour."

Jude grabbed both the phone chargers and pointed toward the door, "I'll take these downstairs and plug them in in the kitchen. Can't have these things dying on us today." Stef and Lena followed their son downstairs where they made a quick breakfast for themselves and coffee for everyone since it was bound to be a long day, no matter how long Callie was in labor.

Back at Callie and Luca's they had managed to get some more rest, though neither of them fell asleep. Eventually, the pain was more than Callie could handle laying down so she walked up and down the hallway in the hopes of moving thing along and getting some relief from her pain. Luca rubbed her back whenever she stopped walking, trying to help in what little ways he could.

"I can't believe this is only going to get worse."

"I'm sorry love. Is there anything I can do?" Luca would've given Callie the moon if it helped and he felt so helpless in that moment.

"I think I changed my mind. I want my mom; well both of them, but I need someone who has given birth to tell me this is going to be ok.". Luca kissed Callie's forehead and took out his phone to call Stef. This time she answered on the second ring.

"How's it going?"

"She is in a lot more pain and she is asking for you specifically. She needs another woman who has given birth to tell her this is going to turn out ok and that the pain is worth it."

"We'll be there in 15 minutes." Luca hung up knowing that Stef was going to speed getting there, but he was happy for the help and for anything that made Callie feel better. As they waited, the pair paced the hallway pausing every so often to let Callie ride out a contraction. She insisted that the walking helped and Luca was not about to suggest otherwise to her. Right about the time her contractions hit 10 minutes the buzzer sounded and Luca went to buzz their family up. He opened the door and let Stef, Lena and Jude in.

"She's in the hallway. Pacing the floor seems to help, but she's going to make herself tired if she does it much longer. Maybe you can get her to sit down?" Stef shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

"I can try, but if it helps her, I wouldn't question it. When do you want to leave for the hospital?"

"I talked to our doctor and she said when her water breaks or when the contractions are 8 minutes apart, whichever comes first." Stef nodded and went to join Callie in the hallway. She found her daughter leaning on a doorframe breathing steadily, clearly trying to breathe through a contraction.

"Hey sweets, how goes it?" Stef reached up to move some hair out of Callie's face and saw the tears in her daughter's eyes.

"I have a high pain tolerance and this is still making me want to fall down and cry. How do women survive this? How did you survive this?" Stef let Callie hug her tightly and hold on tighter than normal, knowing how much pain she must have been in.

"Sweets, this is different kind of pain that anything you've ever felt so don't beat yourself up for being in pain: it is literally part of the process. And I got through it with my mom helping me and Mike rushing back and forth like a mad man because he didn't know what to do. You have your husband, me and mama and Jude here now and when you get to the hospital you'll have the rest of this crazy family there to support you ok? You aren't going to do this alone Callie, but its ok to be scared." Callie's breathing evened out and she looked up at Stef and tried to calm herself down.

"This kid is never going to hear the end of this when we tell this story to her when she's a teenager."

"Brandon still hears about his birth all the time. It's great ammo for speeches at weddings and graduations." Callie smiled and ran her hand over her face.

"I think I'd like to go to the hospital soon."

"We can go whenever you want to Callie. The doctor suggested times to come, but if you wanna go then we go, simple as that."

"I want to brush my hair, put it up in a ponytail and then I think I'd like to head out."

"You're the boss honey. I'll tell Luca." Callie went into the bedroom and Stef rejoined the rest of the family.

"She wants to go to the hospital now." Luca didn't question it, he just grabbed a hoodie and threw it on over his sleepshirt and grabbed his car keys. Stef, Lena and Jude all got back in their car and after locking up, Luca helped Callie to their car and just about the time the sun came up, they made their way to the hospital.

 **Ok, so that was a longer one. Baby will be born next chapter. I have the first name picked, but I'm still open to middle names. I kinda like Charlotte or Elizabeth (which I know is Lena's middle name), but I am open to other ideas. Let me know.**


	34. Be Careful In The World of Men

**Some people weighed in on the middle name for the baby. Hopefully you guys like the first name, it's just one I am really fond of so I wanted to use it in this story.**

Once they had gotten settled into their room at the hospital, phone calls were made to other members of the family even though it was barely dawn. Luca's parents had met them at the hospital, leaving his sisters to keep an eye on each other at home until the baby was born. Stef and Lena called the twins, Brandon and then when it was a little later, they called their parents. While they waited for people to show up, Stef spent most of her time in the room with Callie and Luca. Every now and then, Lena and Michelle would join them and trade spots with Stef, leaving someone to handle the growing amount of family they had in the waiting room, while leaving at least one person in the room with Callie and Luca. They gave Callie an epidural, but she was still in significant pain so her siblings visited her one at a time so as not to overwhelm her when she was literally in the middle of something more important. At one point the nurse came in to check on Callie's progress and told them that she was at 5cm, almost 6, so she was progressing well and would likely deliver later that day if things continued to progress in this fashion.

"How am I not more than half way through this, I feel like I've been at this for days?" Stef nodded sympathetically at her daughter. "I know sweets, when I had Brandon they told me I was at 4 cm and I almost punched the doctor. The medicine should be helping a little, at least hopefully."

"It is, the pain isn't as sharp right now, I'm just more irritated than I thought I'd be."

"Love, you are having a baby, no one expects you to be in the best mood. It's ok to be irritated." Luca added as he put another pillow behind Callie's shoulders to help her get into some kind of comfortable position.

"I know, but I am happy and excited about the baby being born, I just thought I'd be handling the pain differently I guess."

"I know sweetheart, but you are handling this beautifully and were so proud of you. I know this is a rough day, but when they put that baby in your arms you realize the pain was worth every minute." Callie nodded her head and smiled at her mother.

"I know. It's kind of surreal: we're going to walk out of this building with a baby, our baby." Luca smiled from his spot next to bed and Stef leaned forward and kiss Callie's forehead, "well, no matter how many children you have, you will always be my baby."

"Cal, can I get you anything?" Luca was trying to do anything to lessen his wife's burden, but there was only so much he could do. Callie smiled and shook her head.

"I'm ok for right now. I think I'm gonna lay on my side for a while and try and rest." Stef stood up from the bed and closed the blinds in the room.

"Just let us know when you need us, we are all in the waiting room. Oh and Jude said to tell you that he brought the envelope from your mom, but it says on the back to read after the baby is born." Callie smiled, having forgotten about the envelope so she was glad Jude remembered.

"Can you send him in for a minute?" Stef nodded and went out of the room and a few moments later Jude entered the room and waited for his sister to tell him where she wanted him.

"Come sit with me for a minute buddy." Jude looked at Luca, nervous he would hurt Callie or the baby, but Luca nodded and so Jude sat in the spot on the bed where Stef had just been.

"You know, when you were born, I swore I would never do this. Mom looked like she was in such pain and I was so mad at you for making her feel that pain. Then you were born and when they cleaned you up, you looked right at me. I know babies can only see like 3 inches in front of their face, but it felt like you were looking right at me, like you knew I was there. I felt this emotion that I had never felt before and I looked at you and swore that I'd love you forever and protect you from everything. You were my first baby and raising you was the best thing I ever did with my young life, but today, this baby is going to be born and I just want you to know I still feel that level of love for you that I felt that day, but today, you're going to get to hold my child and that's a sight I look forward to seeing. Being your mom was good practice, but being your sister has been a true gift. I love you buddy." Jude brushed tears from his eyes and leaned over and hugged Callie gently, kissing the side of her head as he did.

"You know something, this baby is going to be pretty damn lucky Callie. I know what it feels like to be loved by you and to be raised by you and it's an experience that I wish on every child. To feel that warmth and love from the second they come into this world. I can't wait to meet this little one and I can't wait to spoil them rotten. And when things calm down later, I'll give you the letter."

"Thanks buddy." Jude offered his sister one more kiss before he left her alone in the room with Luca to try and get some rest. He joined his siblings in the waiting room and he took a seat next to Brandon who had arrived last due to needing to go into work early before he could take the day off. Jude took notice that Brandon had brought his girlfriend with him, a young woman named Rebecca that Brandon had been dating for the last six months. She was a nice woman who worked for a marketing company that shared the build with Brandon's work. They had run into each other in the elevator several times and eventually Brandon got up the nerve to ask her to eat lunch with him. Lunch turned into dinner, which turned into them dating. Callie had invited her to her baby shower and after her initial feelings of being uncomfortable in such a large family, Rebecca actually fit into the family very well. Both moms liked her and they had every reason to: she had a good job, an education and she seemed to truly adore spending time with Brandon.

"How she doing Jude?" Jude turned to his brother and nodded and smiled. "She's uncomfortable, but she's powering through it. She decided to lay down and rest for a while so we can all take a break out here till Luca says otherwise."

"Callie must be getting excited though. When my sister had my niece she had a long and intense labor, but toward the end of it she was so excited for the baby to be born it kind of made everything else fade away. Hopefully the same goes for Callie." Rebecca weighed in and Jude and everyone around them agreed with the sentiment.

"Anyone want to get in any last minute guessing for boy or girl and weight/height?" Jesus waved the folder he had been keeping bets in in the air and Mariana flicked his arm to remind him that this was not the place to joke around.

"Never mind. All bets are in and final." Mariana nodded her approval and went back to her magazine.

Stef had just gotten off the phone with her mother who was about to board her flight from Florida when Frank walked into the waiting room, carrying two carriers of coffee. Jude grabbed the containers and handed them out to everyone.

"Give one of those to your brother in law ok, he probably could use it." Jude went down the hall and left the coffee with Luca who was just rubbing Callie's back as she rode out contractions. Everyone settled into the waiting room, content to read, text or in the parents' case just worry. After another two hours, Luca came out and said if anyone else wanted to come and visit they could now since Callie was to uncomfortable to try and rest anymore. The twins took a turn spending some time with their sister and Luca took this opportunity to change into some real clothes that he mother had brought for him, knowing he was still in his Pjs when they left for the hospital. He returned to the room to find Mariana holding one hand and Jesus holding the other while Callie had her eyes shut tight.

"Just breathe with the pain baby." Callie's eyes shot open and she glared at her husband.

"Ok. New rule, if you are gonna be in this room, you do not get to tell me to "breathe". I am breathing, it still is painful." Luca shook the snappy comment off, knowing Callie was going to start lashing out at whoever was close by, but he respected the rule and went and shared the information with the family in the waiting room, so no one else repeated his mistake. After an hour the twins came out of the room and Luca looked at Frank.

"Any interest in going in and saying hi before your great-grandchild is born?" Frank looked completely uncomfortable. Things were different when Stef was born and men had a very small role to play at the delivery stage of the pregnancy, but he nodded his head and followed Luca to the room. He entered Callie's room and offered her a sympathetic smile as he took a seat near the bed.

"Hey kiddo, how is things going in here?"

"I had better days grandpa, but at least I know the day will end on a happy note."

"Any idea how much longer you have to go through this?"

"The nurse checked me just before you came in and said 7cm so hopefully in the next few hours."

"I wish there was something I could do to help, but it looks like you have an army of people in that waiting room ready to meet this baby. Sharon is flying in as we speak and Lena's parents are also on the way."

"We're glad that you made it today grandpa. It wouldn't be the same without you." Frank smiled and pointed to the door. "I'm going to go join your moms, but you holler if you need anything."

"I will grandpa." Callie watched him leave, knowing he was uncomfortable with having to deal with watching loved ones in pain. Back in the waiting room, Jesus had left to meet Sharon at the airport since her flight would be landing in about an hour. Luca returned to Callie's room and they talked with the doctor about the next step and the delivery room was set up for them considering Callie was making progress to the point that they expected her to be ready to push within the next hour or so. As the doctor left they told Luca and Callie they had room for one or two people to join them in the delivery room, provided everything went to plan.

"Up to you Cal, do you want people in there with us?" Callie thought about it and nodded. "I don't want to put Jude through having to see his sister give birth, but I want my mom. Do you think your mom will be offended?"

"No love, I think she remembers giving birth and understands not wanting an audience. Besides Lena understands or she did when we discussed this before so if she is ok with it I'm sure Mom will be too. Besides they'll get to hold her soon enough." Callie nodded and Luca went to go tell Stef their plan. Like he told Callie, his mother understood not wanting more people in the room than absolutely needed to be in there and to her it made perfect sense for Callie to want her mother in the room. Someone to help Luca keep Callie focused and support the young woman as she became a mother.

Roughly an hour later, Jesus had returned from the airport with Sharon in toe and her presence of course made the waiting room buzz with activity. This was only tampered when Luca came out and asked Stef to come with him, telling everyone else that they would be going into the delivery room soon so it might be a while before he comes back out with news. Everyone wished him and Callie well and Stef followed him into Callie's room where they were transferring her from the bed to the gurney to wheel her into the delivery room. As they walked the gurney to the room just down the hall Callie had a vice grip on her husband's hand and her mother's hand.

"It's gonna be ok sweets. This is definitely the hardest part, but it has the most wonderful ending. And I am right here, ok." Callie nodded as she let the nurses help her onto the delivery table. The doctor came in and checked over the paperwork as she spoke to Callie.

"Alright kids, looks like we are ready to deliver us a baby. How you feeling Callie?"

"Excited and tired, but I rested as much as I could given the circumstance."

"Don't worry Callie, a lot of moms think they don't have the energy, but they all find it. Plus, once the head and shoulders are out everything kind of follows and is much easier. So let's get set up and see if we can't get this baby out into the world today." The doctor put on gloves and got situated at Callie's feet. Callie knew her husband and either a nurse or her mother would be helping her hold her legs back, but she still felt slightly self-conscious about the whole thing. Her pride quickly faded away when the doctor told her that she was ready to push on her next contraction. Luca stood at Callie's head, her hand gripping his tightly and Stef stood on the other side doing the same. The doctor encouraged Luca to help hold Callie's leg and a nurse helped on the other side, leaving Stef to just focus on Callie.

"Alright Callie, on this contraction I want you to push down as forcefully as you can ok.". Callie nodded and did exactly what the doctor said, pushing on the next contraction. The doctor counted to 10 before letting Callie break for a few seconds. This pattern repeated many times until the doctor told Callie she almost had the head out.

"You're doing so good baby."

"I feel like nothing is happening, how can I possibly be doing good?"

"Trust me Callie, you can see the top of her head, something is definitely happening." Luca thought he would be grossed out by the blood everything that goes along with labor, but he was in awe of what was happening. Eventually they had the baby's head out and the doctor was working to clear her airway a bit.

"Ok Callie, shoulders can be a bit harder so when you push just hold it until I say stop ok."

"Whatever you say doc." Callie tightened her grip on both her husband's and her mother's hands and Stef leaned forward to kiss Callie's head.

"You are doing so good Callie, this is the hardest bit, but you are doing so good."

"What if I can't do this and something happens to her?"

"Honey, your body knows what to do, just don't fight it. Push when they say to and just keep going ok? Trust me, she is going to be fine and so are you." That helped give Callie a little boost of confidence and she pushed as hard as she could on the next contraction. Stef was sure she had never heard Callie swear that much in her life, but now was her time to say whatever she wanted and not be scolded for bad language. After a few long pushes, Callie fell back against the pillows and looked exhausted.

"Come on Callie, give me one more big push and her shoulders will be out and you'll be almost there."

"I have literally no energy left. I can't do this."

"Like hell Callie. You know I've never been real strict with you, but you have to do this. You are one of the strongest women I know and you can do this, but you have to find that energy deep inside you ok. Now if you want to meet your daughter then push."

Luca was impressed that Stef lived to see the end of that sentence, but it was what Callie needed to hear and it needed to come from another mom, not Luca. He helped Callie lean forward into the next push and he kept whispering encouraging things to her as she went. The doctor didn't tell Callie that the shoulders were clear, instead she let Callie keep pushing, knowing she could deliver the baby in this one push if she held it long enough. If you asked Callie, she would tell you that she knew the second the baby was out and it was the exact moment she fell against the pillows in utter exhaustion, only to be snapped back into reality when the doctor put her daughter on her stomach and after finishing clearing her passages the baby let out a strong cry to voice her displeasure at this bright and cold room she had just found herself in.

Callie had dissolved into tears, and Luca was in the same state: both of them kissing the baby as they cleaned her off a little. Stef snapped a quick shot of the three of them together before the nurse lifted the baby from Callie's chest and went to clean her up. Callie tapped on her mother's shoulder and nodded toward the baby.

"Stay with her. I know they aren't leaving the room, but just stay with her ok?"

"You got it sweets." Stef kissed Callie once more before following the nurse who know was washing the baby off and quickly drying her, getting a diaper on her and taking her to get weighed. Stef looked at her granddaughter in amazement. She didn't know it would feel this amazing to see this new life in her family. She watched the baby fuss as they weighed her and did the ankle test and Stef put her finger in the baby's hand and she started to settle, which of course made Stef's heart burst. After being weighed and measured the nurse wrapped the baby up and seeing that Callie and Luca were still finishing up with the doctor and delivering the afterbirth, she looked at Stef.

"Would you like to hold your granddaughter?" Stef started crying all over again as she nodded and let the nurse put this impossibly small baby in her arms.

"Hey little one. You certainly know how to make an entrance don't you? Grandma loves you so much already." The baby fussed a little and Stef gently rocked her in her arms before she saw Luca standing next to her, clearly having already taken a photo.

"I think someone wants to meet their daddy." Stef handed the baby over and Luca lit up like a Christmas tree. He kissed his daughter's forehead that was covered in a cap that was a little too big for her head and he smiled.

"Hey monkey. Daddy loves you so much. Let's go meet mommy ok?" The doctor had started to clean up and had allowed Callie to lean back and rest before they moved her back into her room. Luca laid the baby in Callie's arms and everyone cried more, but Stef got a quick shot of the three of them together once the dust had settled. Stef watched the new parents coo over the new baby until the nurse came back with a wheelchair to take Callie back to her room. Callie handed the baby to Luca who gently placed her in her plastic bassinet that they would use to transport her from the delivery room to the room Callie was in earlier. After helping Callie into the bed and getting her comfortable the nurse brought in the lactation specialist to help Callie try to breast feed. Stef hoped that Callie would have an easier time than she did when Brandon was born because that boy would not breast feed easily. Thankfully after about ten minutes of moving her around the baby latched on and Callie was able to feed her. Stef stood off to the side and Luca joined her for a minute, giving Callie time to bond with just her and the baby.

"So, I think we've all been waiting quick patiently to hear her name. So what do I get to call my granddaughter?"

Luca smiled, "well we decided to make her middle name Elizabeth, after Lena."

"Well, I can tell you now that Lena will flip over that, but what's her first name?" Luca held up a finger and urged Stef to wait a minute. They watched Callie finish feeding the baby and Luca picked her up to burp her and when he brought her back over to Stef he began to put the baby in Stef's arms.

"Stef, this is Diana Elizabeth Russo." Stef beamed, but had to laugh a little.

"Diana? Like Wonder Woman's alter ego Diana?"

"Exactly. She comes from a long line of strong women and she deserved a strong name. Besides it makes her Halloween costumes for the first like 10 years of her life a slam dunk.". Stef laughed and held Diana close to her.

"Well, you better go tell the masses out there that we have a new family member.". Luca took a good photo of the baby to take with him to show everybody and he left Stef with Callie while he went to the waiting room. As he neared the waiting room Lena saw him and stood up, along with Luca's mother and soon everyone was on their feet.

"Alright Russo, we've waited 9-ish months, tell me if I have a niece or a nephew so I know who won the bet." Jesus joked, but he wanted to know just as bad as anyone else did. Luca held out his cell phone for everyone to take a look.

"Everyone, we would like to introduce to you, Diana Elizabeth Russo." Everyone cheered a little bit, but Mariana was especially happy because of all their siblings she was the only one who bet on Callie having a girl.

"Finally we won't be so outnumbered in our house."

Luca looked at his mother and Lena who were still holding his phone and Lena looked up at him.

"You know you didn't have to use my middle name as her's."

"You're right we didn't have to, we wanted to." Luca invited Lena, his mother and his step father to come back with him to hold their grandchild. Of course it was a mess of tears and everyone was in love with the baby the minute they saw her. Luca took photos of everyone holding Diana and his step father offered to step out first to allow someone else to come in, not wanting to overwhelm Callie or the baby with too many people. Callie thanked him and asked if we would grab Jude and Nick smiled and nodded, blowing a quick kiss to the baby as he left. When the door opened again, Jude walked in and he could see his niece in Michelle's arms and his breath caught in his lungs for a second. Luca filmed as his mother handed the baby over to Jude who held her out so she was facing him and then he quickly took a seat next to Callie on the bed.

"So, what do you think?" Jude beamed at his sister and brushed tears from his eyes.

"I think she's beautiful and strong and exactly like her mom." The picture of the three of them together was one that made everyone in the room tear up all over again. The baby Callie had helped raise, holding her baby that she would raise with her husband was a beautiful moment to behold. Jude held the baby close to his face, careful to keep a good, but gentle hold on her and he kissed her forehead for a few seconds and with tears streaming down his face he whispered to his niece, "be careful in the word of men Diana, they do not deserve you."

 **So there you go. I like the name Diana and the fact that it is wonder woman's name made it that much better for me. I know her name sounds like I love the royal family, but I swear it had nothing to do with them. Most people asked for Elizabeth as a middle name so I went with it. Might do one more of them in the hospital and then I want to do the baby's first Christmas. Let me know your thoughts.**


	35. In My Arms

**Thank you to every who gave me feedback on the last chapter. This one is kind of filler, but hopefully it's still up to standards. Enjoy.**

Later that night most people had left the hospital and gone home. Luca's mom and stepdad returned home and brought Luca's sisters to meet their niece and then the four of them went home together. Sharon grabbed any opportunity she could to hold her great-granddaughter, but when the twins mentioned heading home to their apartments she took the opportunity to catch a ride back to the house with them. Brandon took Rebecca home since they both needed to work the next morning, but he promised he'd swing by on his way home from work to check in on them. This left Stef, Lena and Jude at the hospital with the new parents and newborn. Jude was grabbing everyone something to eat and Luca had gone with him, leaving Lena and Stef to pass Diana back and forth between the two of them. Lena eventually took a seat at the foot of Callie's bed as she held the baby in her arms.

"You know, using my middle name was something you didn't have to do. I would've been in love with her all the same, with or without her having my middle name as her's." Callie smiled and ran her hand through her hair, yawning as she did.

"We know we didn't have to, but we like your middle name, it worked with her first name and we wanted her to have something from you. You've done a lot for us and we felt this was fitting tribute."

"Well, I am honored and very glad to share my name with her." Diana started to squirm in Lena's arms and Callie held out her arms and Lena passed the baby over to her mother. Lena watched in wonder as Callie soothed her daughter and helped set the baby up for her to be fed. She didn't realize she was staring until Stef came over behind her and put her hand on her back.

"Kind of a surreal thing to watch right? Our daughter feeding our granddaughter."

"It's beautiful. Never dreamt of having a moment like this when I picked her up from juvie that day."

"Live has a funny way of working out the way it's supposed to." The two of them watched as Callie cooed at her daughter as she ate and the young mother seemed in love with her newborn which made both mothers smile wide. When the baby had finished eating, Callie let Stef pick her up from her arms and walk around the room with her, talking to her about random things. Jude came into the room a few minutes later with dinner for everyone, including Callie who was by that point starving. Stef refused to put the baby down, choosing instead to eat after other people had. Luca finished his meal first so he picked his daughter up out of Stef's arms and cradled her against his chest while everyone finished their meal. When he was done eating, Jude reached into his back pocket and handed Callie the envelope with their mother's handwriting on it.

"You want to read it alone Cal?" Callie shook her head no and patted the bed, indicating she wanted Jude to come sit with her. Luca saw Callie open the letter and he quickly handed Jude the baby so that they could share this moment as it was meant to be shared.

"Callie, momma and I can step out if you want."

"Nonsense, she would want me to share this with my family, with my child's family and that means you guys. Please stay." Both women took a seat and waited as Callie opened the envelop and began reading."

"Dear Callie, Today is one of the moments I wish more than anything I could have been there to witness firsthand. The birth of your first child is a precious moment that I can barely put into words. When you were born, I knew the minute I held you that you were going to be someone special, you were going to change the world and take it by storm all at the same time. Today when you held your child, I don't doubt that you felt a similar feeling. Regardless of whether you had a boy or a girl, your first child holds a special place in your heart, because they teach you more about love than anyone else ever could. This baby came into this world and you loved it so fiercely that its almost scary to think of a time that they weren't in your arms. I'm sure it must be hard for you to hold your child and not think back to holding your brother when he was born. I don't know what happened after I died, but I'm sure you did everything in your power to care for Jude and I'm sure you ended up raising him like your own son, rather than growing up with him as your brother. Today please listen to my advice and let go of those hurt feelings, or those dark memories. Let new, beautiful, light memories take their place. Your brother will always be your first baby, I don't doubt that, but now you are a mother and this child will grow up in a very different way than you and your brother did.

I have no doubt you will be an amazing mother to this baby or child (maybe you adopted first) because you always took care of your brother like he was your baby, so any child born to you or that find its way into your home is lucky indeed to have you as a mom. There will be days you are exhausted and think you are screwing everything up: you aren't. There will be days you cry a river of tears because you love your child so much it almost hurts. There will be nights you stay awake looking at them, making sure they don't disappear. There will be ups and downs in this child's life, and as their mom you will feel every pain they feel and you will celebrate every victory. My advice to you today is simple: love this child and the rest will fall into place. Everyday won't be perfect, but holding them will make you feel like everything in the world is at peace. Share the joys and burdens with your partner and with your family: let people help, don't be stubborn and insist on doing it all yourself. Above all, be kind to yourself. When I was a new mom I beat myself up over every little thing and I wish better for you and for all your children. Take time today to look at your child and realize the miracle you've been given. Kiss their head and tell them how much they are loved, hold them tight and promise to never let go and tell them that even though I'm not there, I will walk with them all the days of their life. Remember as always, I love you dearly and am with you always. Love, Mom."

Callie tucked the paper back into the envelope and Luca put it in their suitcase for safe keeping. Callie looked at Jude who was gently rocking his niece in his arms and the baby was sound asleep. Callie held her brother's free hand and squeezed it gently.

"She was right you know. I did think of you when I held her. I was so afraid that having a baby would change the way I felt toward you and the memories of us growing up, but it didn't. This baby is not you and I, she is her own person and she will never go through what we did: I have to tell myself that. That being said, I think you will have a special bond with her: my two first babies." Jude handed Diana to Callie who beamed at her daughter.

"You were the best mom a kid could ask for Callie and I'll never forget what you did for me and I'll make sure this girl knows just how amazing her mom is as she gets older. One day, I tell her how her mom saved my life and she'll know just how strong her momma is." Callie smiled a teary smiled and Jude kissed her forehead.

"No matter how many kids you have, you will always be an amazing mom and each of your kids will be lucky to have you and Luca as parents."

"You know something? You are a pretty amazing little brother."

"Correction: I'm a pretty amazing uncle now." Callie smiled and leaned her head on Jude's shoulder as they looked at Diana as she slept. Luca took a picture of the three of them like that and went over to put Diana back in her bassinet.

"Looks like the birthday girl is ready for bed and I bet her momma is too. You've gotta be exhausted love."

"I am, but I kind of don't want to close my eyes. I feel like I'll wake up and this will all be a dream." Luca kissed his wife and leaned his forehead against her own. "It is a dream, but it is a dream come true and I promise I'll be right here, she isn't going anywhere. Lay back and sleep, I think you earned it." Stef, Lena and Jude all kissed Callie goodnight, offering the same love to Luca and cooing at the baby before they left for the night. With the lights turned down, Callie fell asleep fast, exhausted from the day's events. Luca put on some soft music to help drown out the noise of the hospital and he carefully took Diana out of her bassinet and rested her against his chest as he rocked in the rocking chair in the corner of the room.

"You and I haven't had much alone time today huh love? Everyone has been holding you and kissing you, but daddy has been trying to help mommy so he didn't get much one on one time with you. So I better take it now while momma sleeps huh? Listen monkey, I helped raise my sisters so I know what to do with babies, but a baby of my own is something very new for me, so you're gonna have to roll with me here as I learn ok? I'm gonna make some mistakes, probably more than a few, but just know I love you more than anything else in this world. You and your mommy are my girls and I'd do anything for you two. Daddy loves you so much Diana." A song came over the speaker and Luca smiled. He turned the volume down and began to sign softly to his daughter.

 **Three a. m. on the clock**

 **Lullaby, music box**

 **Oh, baby please don't cry**

 **Let's let mama sleep tonight**

 **You've only been home one day**

 **You don't even know your name**

 **Tiny hand on my cheek**

 **You're a miracle to me**

 **In the still ness of the night**

 **Cradled in this rocking chair**

 **I hold all my hopes and dreams,**

 **Every single answered prayer**

 **In my arms**

 **Wish I could hold you forever**

 **In my arms**

 **I will give you shelter**

 **Still I know I can't always be there**

 **To protect you from this great big old world**

 **But I swear this much is true**

 **There'll always be a place for you... in my arms**

 **As I watch you take each breath**

 **Oh, it scares me to death**

 **To know you're counting on me**

 **To be the daddy that you need**

 **Wounded knees, broken hearts**

 **Learning how to drive a car**

 **When it's time for your first date**

 **Will I know just what to say**

 **And when you find that one true love**

 **I'll put on my best smile**

 **And I'll try to hide my tears**

 **As I walk you down the aisle**

 **In my arms**

 **Wish I could hold you forever**

 **In my arms**

 **I will give you shelter**

 **Still I know I can't always be there**

 **To protect you from this great big old world**

 **But I swear this much is true**

 **There'll always be a place for you... in my arms**

 **Oh, this promise I will keep**

 **As you finally fall asleep... in my arms**

 **Song is In My Arms by Mark Wills. Let me know what you guys think for future stuff. Next chapter they will be out of the hospital, but I'm open to hearing what others want to see.**


	36. Little Stranger Girl

**Sorry for not updating this properly earlier in the week: I accidently put a different chapter to a separate story in here. That being said, it forced me to write this quicker ( I know it wasn't very quick, but I'm getting ready to move so my life is chaos). Hope you enjoy them bringing home baby.**

The day Callie was being released from the hospital, her mothers, Michelle and Luca were all fussing over if they had packed everything that was theirs's in the suitcase and bag they brought with them. For her part, Callie sat on the bed, holding Diana and she sighed as she watched four grown adults argue over the contents of a suitcase. She looked down at her daughter and smiled as the baby slept.

"Daddy and all your grandmas are losing their minds, yes they are. Maybe they will stop fighting long enough for us to get home." Callie spoke loud enough for her husband to hear and he nodded, finally zipping the suitcase and claiming that whatever was in the suitcase was less important than the person that was coming home with them in a car seat. Luca left to go load the car, but his mother offered to do it so he could walk out with Callie and their daughter. A nurse who had worked with them during the delivery came in and made sure Callie was unhooked from all the machines and got her and Diana into a wheelchair. Once at the car Luca secured the car seat and made sure his daughter was settled and Stef helped Callie into the car before getting into the front seat with Luca. Lena would be driving their car home and Michelle had brought her own that morning. When everything and everyone was packed up Luca pulled out of the parking lot and headed home. Stef looked in the back seat and watched Callie as she kept her eyes glued to the newborn.

"She's not gonna disappear on you sweets."

"You're the one who always said that we all grew up too fast. I just want to enjoy her as my baby before I blink and she is a teenager giving me heart attacks." Stef smiled and nodded, "for now maybe just enjoy the silence, because if there is one thing I remember from Brandon it was the very loud crying that filled our lives for months." Luca drove slower than Callie ever remembered him driving, but eventually they made it home. Lena and Stef brought their bags upstairs, leaving Callie to be helped by Luca, who had Diana's carrier in his free hand. Their building had an elevator, but Callie was still sore and having a shoulder to lean on was preferred, though she could more or less walk just fine by herself. Once in the apartment, Luca set the car carrier down and Stef snapped a picture of them coming into their home for the first time as a family.

"You guys don't have to stay you know, eventually we are going to have to be alone with her." Callie joked, forever grateful her mothers were helping, but fully aware that soon it would just be the two of them…or rather the three of them.

"It's ok love. We'll head out soon, but we can unpack your bags while you get wonder woman over there settled into her room."

"You know if we call her that as an infant its gonna stick as a nickname." Stef shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

"Not sure what you expected, naming her after a superhero…of course that is what we're gonna call her." Stef left the room so she and Lena could unpack the suitcase and bag from the hospital. Diana had started to move a little in her carrier and Luca set the carrier on the kitchen table and after unbuckling her, lifted Diana out of the seat and nestled her in his arms.

"Alright kiddo, let's get you into your room and see about taking a nap." Luca looked to his wife and gestured toward the nursery. "You coming babe?"

"I think I want to go shower in my own bathroom and change into my PJ's. I think I'll be able to find you when I am finished though." Callie kissed her daughter's head and then offered her husband a quick kiss before heading into the bathroom. Luca walked into the nursery and narrated everything he saw as if he was giving his newborn a tour of her room.

"This is your changing table, your dresser, rocking chair and that's your crib, which hopefully you will actually sleep in." Luca sat in the rocking chair with Diana laying against his chest. He didn't really think anyone was listening since everyone was doing something else so he started to hum and eventually sing to his daughter, hoping to get her to nap again.

 **There's a love he cannot hide**

 **Though he waits in the line to fight**

 **So he looks up to welcome you, his child**

 **Little stranger girl, you are home tonight**

 **He reaches out a thousand miles**

 **And sends his voice to where you lie**

 **And in your dreams he carries you, his child**

 **Little stranger girl, you are home tonight**

 **When you have grown, you may ask why**

 **And you will read these words he writes**

 **And they will say, I thank you, my child,**

 **Little stranger girl, you are home tonight**

The baby was long asleep on her father's chest and Stef poked her head in the nursery and caught Luca's attention.

"I always said you were holding out on us with your voice."

"What can I say, I'll do anything for her, including sing." Luca gently stood up and placed Diana in her crib, making sure that nothing was near her as a potential breathing hazard. He took a step back, turned the baby monitor and nursery camera on before joining Stef at the door of the nursery.

"I know I should leave her alone to sleep, but I just want to be around her all the time, holding her, making sure she's ok." Stef rubbed the young man's back and smiled.

"That my boy is what being a parent means. I'll tell you what though: when Brandon was born I slept in the rocking chair in his nursery for 3 days before Mike made me sleep in the bed. Your whole world is different now. Even though you planned or things the last 9 months, when the baby is put in your arms you feel like you didn't do enough."

"So will there ever be a time I don't feel like this?"

"Is there a time you see yourself wanting to not feel like this?" Luca smiled and shook his head no. "I want to protect her always even when she's all grown up. I don't ever want to lose that instinct to protect her."

"And you won't. Listen Luca, all of my kids are adults and I still feel like I want to walk in front of them their whole lives so they don't hurt. Eventually, you learn to let them walk their own path and you just remind them all the time that you are just a few steps behind them if the stumble. Then you send them out into the world and hope to hell they meet good friends and maybe a partner who will help you worry and care for them." Stef bumped Luca's shoulder with her own and he smiled.

"Not that she needs my protection, but you know I do anything for Callie and Diana, I'd walk through a brick wall if I had to for her."

"Do you really think I would've supported you proposing to Callie those years ago if I didn't think you were the best kind of partner she could have by her side? That's your baby in there, mine is in the other room and I'd walk through a brick wall for her too. You guys are going to be wonderful parents because you are wonderful people and a strong couple. So take a breath and relax. You guys will find your way and you most certainly aren't alone so just holler if you need help…or you bring that granddaughter to my house and Lena and I will gladly watch her for a while, maybe let you guys sleep."

"Deal." With that Luca closed the door and went to find his wife.

 **So it's short, but I want to do Christmas stuff in the next chapters so I needed to bring the little one home.**


	37. Merry Christmas Wonder Woman

**Sorry for the big delay, but I moved cross country and started my internship so my life has been chaos for a month. Hope people are still hanging with me.**

Eventually Christmas came in the Foster household and this year they went a little crazy with decorations, regardless of the fact that Diana would remember none of it. Callie and Luca had spent the previous night with his parents at their home, promising to spend Christmas day with the Fosters. Everyone was eager to celebrate the child's first Christmas and Stef was certain three fourths of the gifts under the tree were for her granddaughter. The thought made her smile: her granddaughter…she had a granddaughter. Stef always thought it would be harder to watch Callie grow up, get married and have a family because in her heart she craved the years where she wasn't Callie and Jude's mother, but the truth was that Stef loved seeing her adult children living their lives and watching Callie's life finally deal her a fair hand made Stef unspeakably happy.

She made breakfast with Lena for the whole family and slowly all her kids turned up at the house with the exceptions of Callie who had texted them that they were running behind because they had to change the baby's outfit. Everyone dug into food, but the meal was interrupted when the front door opened and Callie called out.

"I brought Santa's newest elf and she wants to know where her adoring fans are?" Before Luca could set the car seat down on the floor, Lena was already undoing the buckles and lifting the infant out of it. She and Stef quickly were swarmed by the rest of the family trying to catch a glimpse of their niece. Callie laughed as she put their gifts under the tree.

"I told you they wouldn't notice if we were here or not, just so long as we brought the baby." Lena temporarily gave up her granddaughter and handed her to Stef so she could hug her daughter and son in law.

"Merry Christmas sweetheart." Lena offered Luca the same greeting before returning to Stef's side. Callie took the chance to get herself something to eat, knowing she could eat with both hands free with her family holding her daughter. Luca was going to follow his wife, but he was fiercely protective of his daughter and even though he knew that she was totally safe with his in laws, the new father still had trouble tearing himself away from his newborn. Callie eventually showed up at her husband's side and rubbed his shoulder.

"Take a break Papa bear, she is asleep in the arms of my mother with my siblings flanking her: nothing is gonna touch her with that kind of security detail." Luca sighed and realized that he was tense so he rolled his shoulders before following his wife to eat something while Diana got adored by the rest of the family. After ten minutes or so the rest of the family returned to the kitchen, Diana still settled in Stef's arms.

"Callie, make mom share, she's hogging the baby." Mariana pled with her sister and Callie eyed her mother.

"Mariana, mom only got to hold Brandon as a baby, she never got to hold you, me, Jude or Jesus, so let her soak up holding one of our babies. Besides, she is sleeping and I'd like not to wake her with passing her from person to person. Once she wakes up you guys can have turns holding her."

Callie noticed the look on her mother's face when she told Mariana to let her be and she knew how much that moment of bonding with Diana really meant to her. Callie ate fast, knowing the silence wouldn't last long and sure enough, ten minutes later, Diana woke up and voiced her displeasure with a very healthy set of lungs. Stef, shifted the infant in her arms and handed her to Callie.

"I'm going to go feed her and make sure she isn't wet. I'll change her into her other Christmas jammies and we can open gifts whenever you guys want." Callie left the room and went into the living room to breast feed Diana. She enjoyed the quiet moment between just her and her daughter and Diana seemed hell bent on making eye contact with Callie as she ate so Callie was not paying attention to her surroundings when her grandmother came barreling in the front door.

"Grandma is here and I brought presents. Where is my newest bundle of joy and why am I not holding her yet?" Sharron looked over to see Callie wrapped up in feeding the baby and she smiled that even her entrance couldn't shake the moment between mother and baby. Callie did eventually look up at her grandmother as she moved to burp the baby.

"Merry Christmas grandma." Sharron kissed Callie and then Diana as she dropped off her gifts.

"Merry Christmas sweat pea. How is my great-granddaughter doing on her first Christmas?"

"She is ready to be spoiled no doubt and now that she is full I'm sure she'll be happy to spit up on anyone who wants to hold her." Sharron waved Callie off and held out her arms for the baby. Callie happily handed her daughter over, using the time to search her diaper bag for her outfit.

"Mom wants a picture of us later. You know 4 generations of women in one family, so you, mom, me, Mariana and Diana."

"I love it." Sharron had to share Diana pretty quickly because Mariana came in begging to hold her niece. Callie smiled and knew she wouldn't be holding her daughter much unless she was crying or being fed. Once everyone held the baby for a few minutes they agreed to open gifts and Luca took charge of holding Diana while the family settled into the living room. Normally, Callie would offer a seat to her parents or grandmother, but since she was still sore from giving birth just weeks before she was given the arm chair to sit in for the day. Everyone opened their own gifts first and Luca and Callie were glad for the gifts they received since they were things they didn't get off their baby registry. Then the gifts left were all for Diana and Luca hated to think how many trips to the car it would take to load this at the end of the day and he silently hoped some of the gifts could be left with Stef and Lena for the days Diana was with them.

Callie opened packages of stuffed animals, toys and tons of baby clothes. Toward the end, Stef handed a small package to both Callie and Luca, offering to hold Diana as they opened them. When the paper was torn away, Callie could see it was one of those Baby First Christmases ornaments.

"Why two?"

"Well, we thought that maybe momma and I could hang one on our tree and you guys would like your own for her. We sent one to Luca's parents last week so hopefully everyone has one now." Luca gently hugged his mother in law, careful of the baby in her arms and Callie stood to hug her mother and kiss her cheek.

"We love it. It'll go great with the one I ordered that has all of our names on it." They hung the ornaments, put all the gifts they would be hauling home near the door and returned to the living room. Luca eventually took the picture of all the generations of the women in the family and with some doing he set a timer and took a picture of all of them, baby included. As they wrapped up pictures, Diana again became fussy, signaling that it was her nap time. Callie changed her and went about trying to lull the baby asleep, but it was like the little infant knew she would miss out on things if she fell asleep. Brandon took pity on his sister and sat down at the piano and began to play a song he had learned years earlier. The song was from an album Luca had grown up listening to during the Christmas season and Brandon figured now was a good time to share that music with his niece. He played softly, gently urging his brother in law to sing and eventually he relented.

 **When the mountain touches the valley, all the clouds are taught to fly**

 **as our souls will leave this land most peacefully.**

 **Though our minds be filled with questions, in our hearts we'll understand**

 **when the river meets the sea.**

Callie was glad to see that the music and her daddy singing had calmed Diana, now she only hoped for the child to close her eyes.

 **Like a flower that has blossomed in the dry and barren sand,**

 **We are born and born again most gracefully.**

 **Thus the winds of time will take us with a sure and steady hand**

 **when the river meets the sea.**

Jude softly joined his brother in law in the song.

 **Patience, my brother and patience, my son, in that sweet and final hour**

 **truth and justice will be done.**

Luca looked to his wife and his finally sleeping daughter and smiled.

 **Like a baby when it is sleeping in its loving mother's arms,**

 **what a newborn baby dreams is a mystery.**

 **But her life will find a purpose and in time she'll understand,**

 **when the river meets the sea.**

 **When the river meets the almighty sea.**

Callie gently placed Diana in her bassinet in the dining room before returning to her family.

"Nicely done you guys. She usually goes down much easier than that, but I guess with all the excitement she needed her daddy and uncle to sing her to sleep."

"And to think, there were all those years you spent insisting you couldn't sing." Jude nudged his brother in law's shoulder and smiled.

"What can I say, I'll do anything for my girls." Luca kissed Callie's head and looked over his shoulder at the sound asleep baby.

"How long will she sleep for Cal?" Jude eyed his niece and wondered how much time they had to enjoy the silence.

"Usually an hour if we are lucky. She might be extra tired because of all the excitement, so maybe longer." Jude moved from his spot and grabbed an envelope that hand been carefully placed on the tree.

"Then you have time to read this. Merry Christmas." Callie took the envelope from her brother and eyed it carefully. She knew it wasn't one of the letters her mother wrote and the writing on the envelope was clearly Jude's.

"What's this?"

"I wanted you to have something special for your daughter's first Christmas so I tried my hand at writing a letter for her, kinda like mom did for us. She can read them when she gets older or whatever you want."

"Can I read it now?" Jude smiled and nodded. Callie took out the letter and she looked to Jude to see if it was ok for her to read it out loud.

"My dearest Diana, my little Wonder Woman. My mother wrote letters like this to your mother and I when we were little and they have helped guide and inspire us as we grew up. I hope they do the same for you. Not that you need my help with a mother as special as the one you have. She raised me and sacrificed everything for my safety and happiness and no doubt she is willing to do the same for you. And your daddy, well your daddy is a man among men and he will no doubt be a wonderful father to you. You have been born into a world that is a little messed up right now, but in this house, in this family, you couldn't be safer or more loved. For all your life, you will never walk alone. I promise you this much: as you grow and learn, I will be there, we will all be there to help you through the parts of life that are darker than others. Your mommy and daddy gave you the most perfect name: the names of two of strongest women I ever knew, one real one fictional. The point being, you were born with an uncommon strength in you because of who your mommy is and I hope in your difficult time you look in the mirror and remind yourself exactly who you are. I hope one day you read this and you turn to your mother and tell her how much you love her, even if you are a moody teenager who insists she hates everybody. Be careful in this world and more importantly, be kind. Do good…not well, do good. You will be with me always and no matter where you go my heart will always find you. Love, Uncle Jude."

Callie composed herself after reading the letter and turned to Jude. "You didn't have to say those things about me."

"Yes I did. She needs to know that she might be Wonder Woman, but her momma is Super Woman. Merry Christmas Cal." Callie hugged her brother tightly and just as they separated, the baby started to fuss. Luca went to go pick her up and try to keep her asleep, but Jude stood up first and lifted the baby from her bassinet, holding her tightly to his chest. He rocked back and forth and hummed softly to the child and eventually the fussing stopped and the baby was back asleep as deeply as she had been earlier. Callie made eye contact with her brother and the tears in both of their eyes said more than words ever could. And if you don't think everyone took pictures of Jude rocking Callie's firstborn to sleep, you'd be wrong.

 **I am so sorry for the delay. Family stuff has been pretty bad and dissertation and internship stuff is no joke. That and depression in general is hell and makes me want to sleep, not write.**


End file.
